GARDENING AND LANDSCAPE CLASSES AND PRESENTATIONS
From Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila (updated February 23, 2016)
120 Lorberta, Waterford, Michigan, 48328-3041 248-681-7850 www.GardenAtoZ.org
Working as Perennial Favorites landscape design and garden care and GardenAtoZ,
we've learned that the more people know about their landscape, plants, design and care, the
better their yards will look, regardless whether they tend the yard themselves or hire it done!
We began teaching because our clients asked us to help them learn and we continually train
new gardeners in our firm. Over the past 26 years what was at first one-on-one help has
evolved into workshops for small groups, college classes, regional conferences, national
workshops, and presentations at a variety of venues such as Chicago Botanic Gardens
symposia, Perennial Plant Association meetings, Extension Service Master Gardener classes,
professional gardening and
landscaping organization continuation
training, community groups' property
enhancement projects, home and
garden shows, etc. We offer the "howto" directions we developed for our
clients and gardeners, in a full range of
classes. We bring them to you to help
you and yours design, tend and enjoy
gardens and landscapes.
The classes we've created and instruct
are on this list. Janet Macunovich is
an Advanced Master Gardener with 26
years of experience designing, planting
and maintaining perennial gardens and landscapes. She is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic
instructor rated "enjoyable as well as informative" by her audiences. Steven Nikkila is a
horticulturist and a professional photographer of ornamental plants and gardens. He's been
described by his students as a "charming guy who knows his stuff and how to tell me how to."
Steven's library of nearly 200,000 images (film plus digital media) helps us as we illustrate our
talks to find just the right way to educate each of the thousands of people we've helped with
plant identification, garden maintenance and home landscaping. As professional gardeners we
bring to every class a wealth of practical information and a sincere desire to help others learn.
Our talks and classes are held at various educational facilities, and many are specially
scheduled by garden clubs, homeowner groups and professional associations. Go to
www.GardenAtoZ.com in About Us>Where We're Appearing for a calendar of alreadyscheduled classes you might attend. Or call 248-681-7850 to set up your own class.
Our speaking fee, and a participant's registration fee for attending one of our talks
sponsored by a community group or educational facility, vary with topic, location and hosting
group. Please select a topic or topics and ask us about our fee, or refer to the host group's online list or catalog for the price of individual enrollment. If you chose to be a host, you may
select a topic from this list or contact us about hybrid topics to fit your needs. Factors that
affect speaking fee are time involved in development and delivery and travel expenses.
We hope to help you as we all keep on growing!
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 1
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WHO ARE JANET & STEVEN?
Janet Macunovich is an author, educator and garden designer known for plans that are simple,
enduring, creative and individually pleasing. In addition to designing and tending gardens for
clients, she also teaches "how to." That's resulted in nine books and hundreds of articles, placed
her at the head of radio and internet forums dealing with questions on all aspects of
landscaping, and an audience of thousands of gardeners both amateur and professional
throughout the U.S., Canada and England. Her students have said, "When Janet explained, I
finally got it... and I had fun, too!"
Among her tutors, Janet counts professors of horticulture, elder neighbors who gave her plants
as a child and the brothers Cameron of Shenley Church End, Buckinghamshire who took her
on as apprentice in 1973 in their 300-year-old garden. She says "I'll never stop learning" and
it's just as likely that you'll meet her as a fellow student as your instructor in gardening
programs all over North America.
Steven Nikkila is a horticultural photographer who has also planted and maintained gardens
and landscapes as a profession since 1983. His experiences with trowel and clippers have
combined with questions from his students and clients to give his photography a special howto clarity. That's why his work is so often featured in books, magazines and catalogues, and why
author Janet Macunovich says, "I write about design but Steven's photos are why people can
see what I say!" He teaches courses on horticultural photography and many other topics. His
articles appear in Michigan Gardener magazine and the weekly newsletter What's Coming Up.
He was a senior instructor for the Michigan School of Gardening from 1996 to 2008 and holds
a Landscape Technology degree from Oakland Community
College.
Steven and Janet together are Perennial Favorites, providing
garden and landscape design and maintenance for 26 years.
They also have two children, whose nurturing they felt should
be as hands-on as their gardening. So in 1981 Steven put his
career on hold to be the full-time homemaker while Janet
took up their financial slack by moonlighting as a gardener.
Soon the two were gardening together professionally. The
children became comfortable in backpacks on their parents'
backs as they gardened and grew along with the gardening
business.
TALK- AND WORKSHOP TOPICS
The catalog follows in the rest of this document. Topics are in
alphabetical order by title so you can Search by key words
such as prun (for prune or pruning), weed, pest, design, etc.
Sometimes we are asked, 'What do you have that's new?" We develop new topics and hybrids
when we see a need or have a request. Beyond that, it's tough to call our work new or old. We
are continually updating, we don't work from a script and we customize each talk to suit the
host group. Some classes have been in our repertoire for over 20 years yet they don't feel "old."
Gardeners who've followed us for decades say the same; they've told us, "You have never given
the same talk twice!
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TALKS AND WORKSHOPS -- First, just the titles!
A titles-only list is the quickest way to let you peruse the results of our 25+ years of exploring,
applying and teaching about garden topics.
If you see a title here that seems right you can look it up on pages 8-54, where each class is
listed alphabetically by name and fully described.
Ask Janet to present any except those marked #; ask Steven for any marked * or #.
8 Months of Color*
8 Months of Color, Even in Small Spaces!*
52 Weeks of Color*
Allergies, Gardening with Allergies
Annuals and Perennials for All Seasons
Armchair Gardener, The
Art of Fall Garden Clean-up /Winterizing the Perennial Garden*
Basic Perennial Gardening
Basic Pest management*
Before-Afters: Learn and smile*
Beginner Gardens /Starter Gardens
Beginning Green: Eco-conscious gardening
Benefits of Gardening /More than a Garden: Balm for the
soul, glue for the family
Best Foot Forward: Ideas for Entrance Gardens
Best of the Best Advice: Lessons learned over decades of
being open to tours*
Bulbs: Choosing, Planting, and Growing Bulbs*
Bulbs: Using bulbs in the perennial garden*
Busy Gardener
Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardening8
Canned Goods: Gardens in Containers
Can't Judge that Plant by its Cover
Caring For Perennials / A Season in the Perennial
Garden: April to November care of perennials / One
Hour Perennial Maintenance*
Caring for Perennials: Beyond the Basics
Caring for Perennials / Maintaining Perennial Gardens
Caring For & Using Your Perennial Garden
Challenging Garden*
Children's Gardens*
Choosing and Placing Plants in the Landscape
Choosing Perennial Plants
Choosing and Using Trees*
Classes FOR Children: Adventures in the garden*
Classes FOR Children: Fantastic flowers*
Classes FOR Children: Insect heroes and villains*
Classes FOR Children: Plant neighborhood*
Classes FOR Children: Super seeds*
Classes FOR Children: Myths & legends from the garden*
Clay Soil / Gardening on Clay Soil*
Clipping Conifers
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 3
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Collectors' Gardens: Engaging harmony from intriguing diversity
Color Cures for the August Blahs
Color Schemes in the Garden
Columbo on Conifers, or Why'd it Die?*
Common Problems and Critter Control / Controlling Diseases and Insects / Diseases and
Insects*
Companion Plants / Plants Managing Without Us
Composting / A Toast to Compost
Conditioning Cut Flowers/Foliage / Cut Flowers from Your Garden
Construction Damage, preventing loss of trees and landscape / Preventing Construction
Damage to the Landscape / Saving Trees During Construction*
Continuous ColorContinuous Color in the Landscape / Keeping Your Garden Fresh and
Colorful all Season / Primping Perennials*
Cutting back overgrown plants / Cutting Back the Rambunctious Garden
Design Tips: Using garden art / Using Garden Accent Pieces
Designing Your Perennial Bed
Designing and Planting Your Perennial Bed
Designing for All Five Senses
Designing With Perennials: Doubling-up in the perennial garden
Designing With Perennials: Garden in a box
Designing With Perennials: Made in the shade
Designing With Perennials: Small areas/no time
Diagnosing Problems*
Display Gardens: Lower Care, Higher Sales
Dividing Perennials / Making More Perennials: Basic Propagation / Math for Gardeners:
Multiply and divide perennials*
Don't Know the Plant 'til You've Killed it:
Learning from losses
Earthwise Gardening*
Earthwise Gardening: Prepare a bed for perennial plants*
Easiest Best Perennials
Easy Garden Design / Simple, Successful Garden Design
Easy Landscape Design / Do It! Easy, Beautiful
Landscapes
Ecological Gardener: Our impact on the environment
Edible Landscapes/Taste: Edible Landscapes
English Garden Design / What Makes it English? /
Designing English Gardens
Entry Gardens / Best Foot Forward
Expert Perspective: From challenging site to great garden*
Eye to Hand-y Image: Garden photography workshop#
Fall Bed Preparation*
Fall Planting to Save Time and Money*
Fall Planting for Wildlife*
Favorite Plants New and Old / Janet's Favorite Plants / Horticultural All-Stars*
Fertilizers / Making the Most of Soils and Fertilizers
Focal Points: True gems in landscape or garden
Foliage / Fabulous Foliage*
Folklore, Gardening / Groundhog Tradition / What the Groundhog Won't Tell
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Four-season Interest in the Garden and Landscape /Persuading Perennials to Delight us for All
Four Seasons / Landscaping to Delight the Eye for all Four Seasons*
Fundamentals of Gardening
Garden Design Workshop
Garden Maintenance - April/ Perennial Garden Maintenance - April
Garden Maintenance - August/ Perennial Garden Maintenance - August
Garden Maintenance - July/ Perennial Garden Maintenance - July
Garden Maintenance - June/ Perennial Garden Maintenance - June
Garden Maintenance - May/ Perennial Garden Maintenance - May
Garden Maintenance - October/ Perennial Garden Maintenance - October
Garden Medicine Chest
Gardener's Health*
Gardening for Wildlife*
Gardening From the Ground Up
Gardening in Wet Areas*
Gardens of the Future
Getting the Garden Ready for Spring*
Grasses in the Perennial Garden8
Great Garden Give-away / What Your Garden Says About You
Great Plants and Plant Combinations: The best of the best perennials, trees and shrubs
Green Revival: The perennial garden as spring tonic
Hardiness Zones, pushing the limits / Gardener, Hedge Your Bets! - Springtime presentation
Hardiness Zones, pushing the limits / Gardener, Hedge Your Bets! - Summer/fall presentation
Hardy Hydrangeas
Hedges: Living walls for outdoor rooms
Herbs: Breaking out into the landscape
History of Gardens in the U.S. /Thank You GreatGrandfolks
Holiday Magic: Plants of Christmas lore
Holiday Decorations from Your Garden
Horticultural Therapy
Hot Weather Gardening Tips
How to Select Plants*
Hydrangeas / Hardy Hydrangeas
Improving the Older Garden*
Indoor Gardening /Basic Indoor Gardening /
Bringing the Garden Indoors for Winter
Invasive Plants: The situation, the plants and you*
Landscape Design: Adapting the best from what you see around town / Landscape Critique
through the Windshield
Landscape Design: Backyards
Landscape Design Workshop / Step by Step Landscape Design Workshop
Landscape Design Workshop II / Landscape Design: Right there in your back yard
Landscape Renovation / New Life for Older Landscapes
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Deciding what to do with your yard
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Choosing and planting trees
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Setting boundaries with shrubs, walls, hedges, fences & more
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Color your landscape: Flowering trees, shrubs & groundcover
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Color your landscape: Annual and perennial flowers
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Color your landscape: Design flowering plant combinations
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Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Tending the landscape: Simple, effective tree, shrub & lawn care
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Tending the landscape: Handling problems
Landscaping Basics & Beyond: Tending the landscape: Tending flower beds
Limitless Gardening in a Limited World
Long Interest Perennials*
Low Maintenance Gardens / Saving Time in the Garden / I See Easier Yard Work / Saving
Time on Yardwork: Low maintenance yards and gardens*
Mail Order Gardening / Gardening by Mail
Maintenance: Keeping the garden looking good, summer edition
Meadow Gardens
Michigan Garden Kaleidoscope*
Michigan Gardening: Why it's a great place to grow
Michigan Natives in the Landscape*
Michigan Wildflowers in the Perennial Garden*
Mid-season Garden Design Review
Mixed Borders*
Monarch Butterflies / Making a Monarch*
Myths and Legends from the Garden
Myths and Realities of Perennial Gardening
Native Plants*
Natural Landscapes
Naturalized Gardening
Never Stop Growing: In pursuit of low maintenance all the years of
our lives*
New Perennials / Perennial Introductions / Seeking the Best New
Plants / Plants in the News and New in Your Garden
Nosing Around: Smelling your way to a better garden
Organic Gardening / Basic Organic Gardening*
Overwintering tender perennials / Winter Care of Tender Perennial Plants and Roots
Pathways: Improving the garden journey
Perennials: the Best Picks*
Perennial Combinations / Great Perennial Combinations*
Perennials for the Collector
Perennial Garden Design
Perennial Gardening / Perennial Gardening Short Course
Perennial Gardening: Chores and fun
Perennials for Growers: What your customers want
Perennials in the Landscape: Design Ideas
Photography in the Garden/ Effective Photogardening*
Photography for the Horticultural Professions*
Picture Perfect Garden / Transplanting the Picture Perfect Garden
Pinching and Shaping Perennials/Planting a Perennial Garden
Planting Trees and Shrubs*
Planting When the Roots are Wrong*
Plant it Well, Enjoy it Forever: Complete how-to for planting every type of plant
Practical Garden Design/ Easy, Practical Garden Design
Professional Series: A season in the perennial garden
Professional Series: Estimating planting costs
Professional Series: Maintaining perennial beds, part 1 - A professional approach
Professional Series: Maintaining perennial beds, part 2 - Beyond the basics
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Professional Series: Profitable perennial maintenance
Professional Series: Perennials in the landscape, current opportunities and forecast
Professional Series: Maintenance: Staying ahead of perennial trouble
Professional Series: Design and planting perennials: What works, what's lasted, what pays off
Pruning Evergreen Shrubs and Trees
Pruning Overgrown Plants
Pruning Trees and Shrubs / Fine-pruning the Landscape
Rain Gardens and Other Eco-Friendly Designs*
Raise Your Sights to Lower Maintenance*
Real-World Gardens: An evolving shady garden
Real-World Gardens: Fall bed preparation
Real-World Gardens: Garden design
Real-World Gardens: Garden in a rock wall
Real-World Gardens: Rock garden on the flat
Real-World Gardens: Making a garden in the shade
Real-World Gardens: Perennial garden maintenance
Renovating a Perennial Bed*
Renovating Gardens and Landscapes / Garden and
Landscape Renovation*
Restrained Garden: Gardening in small spaces*
Rock Gardens
Secret to Beautiful Gardens: Not the green thumb but the right tools*
Sense-ational Gardens: Designing sight, scent, sound, touch and taste in a garden
Shade Gardening, a Practical Approach*\ / Shade Gardens*
Shamans of the 21st Century / Gurus of the garden: 21st century shamans*
Simple, Successful Garden Design
Simplify Your Garden: Save time, money and defy age*
Slide Shows and More: How to develop and illustrate a Master Gardener talk*
Smart Gardener in the High Tech Age
Sound in the Garden
Specialty Gardener
Spring Tonic
Spring Start-up: Working the garden now for a year of
non-stop color
Starter Gardens
Successful Perennial Gardening
Thank You, Great Grand-folks / Traditions in Gardening
Tools for a Great Garden*
Touch: Feeling good all around the garden
Traveling Gardener: Tips for getting the most from your
trips*
Traveling Gardener in The Midwest*
Traveling Gardener in England*
Traveling Gardener in Scotland*
Traveling Gardener in Canada*
Traveling Gardener in the Pacific Northwest*
Traveling Gardener, Close to Home*
Tree I.D. Workshop*
Tree Planting*
Tree Planting in the Wake of Lost Ashes*
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Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces*
Versatile Viburnums*
Visualizing Changes to a Garden or Landscape / Gardener's Crystal Ball: Visualizing changes
/Gardener's Crystal Ball
Visualizing Changes to a Garden or Landscape: Try it and See
Walls of the Garden, Garden Walls
Water Gardens / Practical Water Gardens*
We Don't Know the Plant 'Til We've Killed It
Weeds: To know them is to beat them
When Cheating is Okay: Quick and magical makeovers for big events in your garden
Wildflowers*
Wildlife Gardening*
Wintering-over tender perennials
Winter Interest in the Garden: High returns for small investments*
Winter Protection: Make it practical, beautiful and simple!
Year-round Landscapes*
Zone 5 Gardens: Pluses and Minuses
8 Months of Color: Charting a practical course to continuous bloom
A calendar that shows week by week peak bloom of perennials, shrubs, vines and trees may
seem to be all a designer needs to assemble a winning group of plants. Yet even the finest
assembly can be refined to jewel quality through smart plant placement, planting and care. Use
practical tips from this presentation and you'll learn to let each month's signature flower cue
you to do what's best for that time toward maximum color. You'll garden at peak performance
all year, from evaluating the size of beds and plant groups in March to routinely taking some
plants "off exhibit" each October. (1 meeting, 3 hours; overview 1 meeting, 1 hour)
8 Months of Color, Even in Small Spaces!
Many gardeners collect plants with an eye to keeping their garden
color going from earliest spring to hard frost. Yet even the finest
assembly can be refined to jewel quality through smart plant
placement, planting and care. This is especially true in small spaces
such as courtyards, balconies and deck gardens. Use practical tips
from this presentation to learn what's best each month for
maximum color. You'll garden at peak performance all year, from
evaluating the size of planting and plant groups in March to
routinely taking some plants "off exhibit" each October. (1 meeting,
2 hours)
50 Before-Afters: Learn and smile (See "Landscape Ideas...
Before-After")
52 Weeks of Color
Take a beautiful visual trip through the year, meeting the plants that shine in each week. Great
ideas for what to add to your garden or landscape now during the year's best planting season.
With tips on how to design with the featured plants. (1 meeting, 2.5 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 8
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Admitting you're hooked: Wintering-over those tender perennials
For the gardener who can't let go and must keep growing all year or those who can't compost
the foliage plants, flowers, herbs, and artistic plants from bonsai to topiary that can't make it
outdoors over winter. Professional gardener and writer Janet Macunovich has
recommendations for plants, pots, soils, lights, arrangements and care of species which must
become indoor plants for the winter. Macunovich also covers handling tender species that can
be saved as dormant roots, including dahlias, cannas, elephant ears, top grafted rose trees, etc.
(1 meeting, 3 hours)
Allergies, Gardening with Allergies (See "Gardening and Allergies")
An Enchanting Winter Garden
Plan now to make your garden make you smile right through winter. Garden designer Janet
Macunovich has tips for you that will make the most of every color, texture and form you have
in your landscape now and help you add and rearrange to make it sparkle. Use these ideas to
make any existing or new landscape interesting, colorful and enchanting to the eye from
November to April. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Annuals and Perennials for All Seasons
It's time to look at which flowers to grow this year! Here's a close-up of 40 you might try,
annuals and perennials for a variety of situations. See and hear how to grow them. Get ideas
for combinations. Also included, lists of additional plants by seasonal appeal. An advanced
class for those familiar with fundamentals of gardening. (2 meeting, 4 hours)
The Armchair Gardener: The good garden gets better before the season starts!
All the best gardeners know that a perennial garden is never "done." Improvements and
adjustments are continual, for all the best reasons: to meet the gardener's changing taste; add
color; decrease work; attract more wildlife; etc. When it comes to making those changes, winter
and very early spring are two of the very best times -- find out why and how in this entertaining
presentation. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
The Art of Fall Garden Clean-up
You and your perennial garden can benefit from a good fall clean-up. Every hour you spend in
the garden in fall can save you two or more spring hours, give you months of pleasure in the
winter, and give your plants the very best start into the new season. This workshop gives you
tips on what to do, when and how to make your garden a thing of beauty even through the
winter. Classroom instruction with illustrations: 1 session, 1-1/2 hours; with outdoor
workshop, 1 session, 3 hours)
Basic Organic Gardening
The three most important aspects of gardening from an organic basis: Why organic gardeners
view the soil as a living part of the garden and how they treat it. How to match plants to a site
so that the natural environmental systems work for you. Working with nature to control pests
and diseases in a way that keeps everything in balance. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Basic Indoor Gardening (See “Admitting You're Hooked"”)
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Basic Perennial Gardening
Endearing, enduring perennials - planted once, enjoyed for years. Learn tricks to grow them:
preparing the bed; choosing perennials for particular sites; what to buy, where; displaying
them beautifully; adapting standard maintenance to perennials; special maintenance dividing, winterizing. For someone who already knows the fundamentals of gardening and
wants to learn techniques that apply especially to perennials. (4 meetings, 12 hours)
Basic Pest Management (See "Common Problems and Critter Control")
Beginner Gardens (See "Starter Gardens")
Beginning Green
When we love to garden we grow to love the whole natural world. Spring is a good time to get
together to exchange ideas with other gardeners such as writer Janet Macunovich. This talk is
all about environmentally friendly practices and materials for both the beginning gardener and
for every spring when it's time to take stock of a garden to begin again. There are ideas here for
eco-conscious approach to preparing the ground, deciding what to grow, planting and tending.
(1 meeting, 3 hours)
Before-After (See "Landscape Ideas... Before-After")
Benefits of Gardening (See "More than a Garden: Balm for the Soul, Glue for the Family" or
"Horticultural Therapy")
Best Foot Forward: Ideas for Entrance Gardens
Put that best foot forward by making your entry gardens truly grand. Garden designer and
writer Janet Macunovich tours the audience through many beautiful dooryards, courtyards,
side passages, and main entryways, explains what makes them great and tells how the best
features from each can be transplanted to a place of honor outside your front door, gate, arbor,
patio steps or other entry. (1 meeting, various-length versions available)
Best of the Best Advice: Lessons learned over decades of being open to tours
Important tips about what's indispensable and what to dispense with in gardening, from a
group of special gardeners who have kept tour-caliber gardens for decades. They've beaten
deadlines, heard from hundreds of critics and kept great gardens through all that life throws at
a person. You and your garden need to hear what they've learned! (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Beyond Bloom: More color and texture for your garden (Also known as "On Beyond
Bloom")
Flowers are wonderful but the best gardens employ color from other quarters, too, and gain
depth from a base in plant form and texture. Designer/Author Janet Macunovich shares ideas
to help you look at your garden, evaluate its building blocks, then improve it by way of both
quick fixes and fundamental change. (1 meeting, 90 minutes)
An extended-workshop version of this presentation (3 hours) includes unique, hands-on
practice in using texture and making the most of color from elements other than flowers.
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 10
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Biological Controls for Garden Pests and Diseases
For the experienced gardener looking for greener ways to manage a garden, this workshop
zeroes in on pest management. In it, you'll learn about some of the current non-chemical
approaches in agriculture and horticulture and then work in guided groups to adapt these
tactics to a specific problems in your garden. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Bringing the Garden Indoors for Winter (See “Admitting You're Hooked"”)
Bulbs: Choosing, Planting, and Growing Bulbs
There are so many bulbs to choose from in fall, it can be overwhelming. This is especially
vexing when all you want to do is get some of these ready-to-go flowers into the ground! A
quick lesson in major and minor bulbs, how to plant them, where to place them, and what to
expect of them over the years once you've put them in the ground. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Bulbs: Using Bulbs in the Perennial Garden
Integrating bulbs into a perennial garden can create fantastic early season displays and
summer accents. It can also be a headache, if you don't consider compatibility between specific
bulbs and the plants that will be their nearest neighbors. This in-depth session looks at species
and varieties of bulbs that perennialize well, where to get them, perennials that are good
companions for bulbs, planting techniques, and tips for doing ongoing maintenance in the
garden without disrupting the bulb show. Taught by garden designer Janet Macunovich, who's
never met a bulb she didn't like! (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Busy Gardener, The
Tips for the gardener who wants to make the best use of precious time and money. Garden
designer and writer Janet Macunovich presents ideas and answers questions to help you get
your garden, shrub and lawn work done this spring in ways that will make summer more
relaxing and beautiful. (1 meeting, 3 hours or 1 overview, 45 minutes)
Butterfly and Hummingbird Gardening
Plants and techniques for attracting these beautiful
creatures into your yard. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Canned Goods: Gardens in Containers
It's not just an annual show, anymore! Shrubs, tree, vegetables, perennials, even water gardens
can be grown in a container. The containers themselves have evolved into an array of forms
and materials, breathtaking and mind-boggling to consider. Here are practical, novel ideas for
how to choose a container and the plants to fill it, plus how to plant and maintain a stunning,
out-of-ground display. (1 session, 1 hour.)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 11
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Can't Judge that Plant by its Cover
Here's fun and great ideas based on information that's not usually featured in the plant catalog.
Professional gardener Janet Macunovich gives you the inside scoop on some garden plants
from the favorite to the obscure, with insights into their history, care, uses and other aspects
not generally featured in catalogs and plant encyclopedias. (1 session, 1 hour)
Caring For Perennials
Picture-perfect perennial gardens are not the exclusive realm of professionals or independently
wealthy hobbyists. You'll be able to keep your garden better, after this revelation of some
perennial realities and a run-down of what to do, when from April through October. (1
meeting, 3 hours)
Caring For & Using Your Perennial Garden
Get a bit more mileage out of your garden by learning more about your perennials. As
professional gardeners and writers, Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila bring you over 25
years of insight on how to keep your garden looking neater and more colorful, which plants
make the best cut flowers, can be dried for lasting interior decorations, bring in the most
butterflies, even be added to a dinner menu or used as a conversation starter. (1 meeting, 1
hour, or 1 workshop 3 hours)
The Challenging Garden
Some places in the yard can cause a gardening migraine: they demand attention but refuse to
cooperate when it comes to planting: under trees, in dry soil, in overly wet soil, in long narrow
spaces, against walls. Here's your chance to gather ideas for what to plant, how to make it
grow, and how to care for plants in such challenging places. (2 meetings, 6 hours)
Cheating (See "when Cheating is A-OK: Quick and Magical Makeovers for Big Events in Your
Garden")
Children's Gardens
Gardens are great places for children to learn about life, or to while away their summer. If you
would like your children to enjoy your gardens more, come to this class for some tips to get
them involved. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Choosing and Placing Plants in the Landscape
A basic plan to get you off and running in spring: How to select plants that will fulfill your
dream, and ideas for placing them in the yard. There are tips and recommended plants in all
plant categories: trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers, perennials and annual flowers. (1 hour)
Choosing and Placing Trees (See also Design Basics: Choosing and planting trees)
How to choose and place a new tree to best advantage, plant it and give it all it needs to "take
off" and grow. This is your chance to figure out what a particular tree is worth or can do for
you, as you consider removing or replacing an existing tree or adding new. Learn about best
choices and placement to help preserve-- even enhance -- the environment, aesthetic and
property value you want. (1 meeting 1-3 hour formats available)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 12
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Choosing Perennial Plants
A thorough primer in sorting through the thousands of perennial choices available: matching
the plant to your site and design concept; deciding whether to buy locally or by mail, and
where; what to expect for your money; how to identify a “good” plant from the stock at a
garden center. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Classes FOR Children (each, 60-90 minutes)
Adventures in the Garden:
Fantastic Flowers - Most people see
flowers only as pretty faces. Here's where you
can learn about their tricks, schemes, and
almost magical methods of getting what they
want.
Insect Heroes and Villains - Learn
about some good-guy and bad guy bugs that
live their dangerous and exciting lives right in
our own back yards. Many are more powerful
than any super-hero and nastier than the worst imaginable villain.
Plant Neighborhood - Certain plants like to grow together in colorful bunches.
Others are loners. Still others grow into huge gangs crowding out all every other plant. Here's
a fun class about plants that grow well together and why.
Super Seeds - Locked in every seed is an exciting world, complete with life support
systems for the fantastic creature that will come out of it. Learn about everything in a seed and
the secrets to unlocking it.
Myths and Legends from the Garden - Did you know that the “yarrow” we grow in
our gardens was once called woundwort, and was one of the Greek hero Achilles main
medicines? Or that every forget-me-not recalls a brave knight in shining armor? Much in our
garden has roots in ancient tales. The stories you'll hear will make you -- and kids! -- look
twice, laugh, or even bow to flowers, shrubs and trees in your own yard. (30-45 minutes.)
Clay Soil (See "Gardening on Clay Soil")
Clipping Conifers
Most landscapes are full of needled evergreen shrubs and trees, such as pines and spruces on
the lawn, yews and junipers at the foundation, arborvitae in the hedges and dwarf conifers in
the garden. When pruning time comes, these plants can stump a gardener since they don't
respond to cuts the same way as herbaceous plants and broad leaf evergreens. Learn how to
prune anything, any time, any way with conifers as examples. (Workshop, 1 meeting, 3 hours; 1
hour overview available)
The Collector -- Engaging Harmony from Intriguing Diversity
Many gardens become collections -- of rock garden plants, conifers, unusual herbs, flowers of a
particular color, leaves of a certain hue, or plants connected only by the gardener's interest in
them. There is an art to displaying such singularities in ways that keep each on a pedestal while
giving all a flattering background. When the displaying is done harmoniously, such a garden
intrigues not only those on the "inside track" but draws and holds even casual viewers. Here
are tips for establishing and maintaining order within a collector's paradise. (1 meeting, 1 hour
or 1 meeting, two hours)
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Color Cures for the August Blahs
Especially for the perennial gardener: how to cure the “August Blahs.” Many perennial gardens
lack color in August. This class offers you some practical solutions. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Color Schemes in the Garden
A look at colors and color combinations: primary colors, their secondary spin-offs and the
dynamics of pairing closely related analogous hues and distant, complementary values. Most
important, it's a look at how color theory based on pure tones translates to the dominantly
green, excitingly impure spectrum of the garden. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Columbo on Conifers (See "Don't Know a Plant 'til You've Killed it")
Common Problems and Critter Control
Every gardener has to face the problem of diseases and insect pests in the garden and
landscape. This course covers the basic steps in identifying and evaluating problems, and
making decisions about what to do. Applies to flower gardens, vegetables, lawns, shrubs and
trees. Most useful if those in attendance have some experience in gardening and plant
identification. (2 meetings, 6 hours; overview available -- 1 meeting, 1 hour)
Companion Plants (Also titled "Plants Managing Without Us")
How plants protect themselves and each other from pests and other problems, and how
gardeners can take advantage of these abilities through companion planting. (2 meetings, 6
hours; overview available -- 1 meeting, 1 hour)
Composting (Also called “A Toast to Compost”)
Most people agree that our society needs some new answers to the problem of disposing of
solid waste. You can make black gold from your yard clippings and leafy debris. There are
numerous ways to transform the raw materials into compost, and this overview will help you
pick the best method for your needs. Also included: suggestions for how to use the finished
product, and a look at Michigan gardens whose caretakers have made use of compost. Come to
this class if you're thinking about starting a compost or would like to learn something more
about managing the one you have. (1 meeting, 1 hour and 3 hour versions)
Conditioning Cut Flowers/Foliage (See "Cut Flowers from Your Garden")
Construction Damage, preventing loss of trees and landscape (See "Preventing
Construction Damage...")
Continuous Color
It's not just the combination of plant species and varieties that make for April through October
bloom in a garden. What counts are the gardener's tricks for extending, stalling, and coaxing
repeat shows from flowering plants. This class covers both plant combinations and practical
techniques that add up to a really long show. (1 meeting, 2-1/2 hours)
Continuous Color in the Landscape
Your landscape shouldn't look like a moonscape during the off-season! Great designs have
color and interest all year. What you plant is only part of the answer -- how you place and
maintain plants and other garden features is more important. Here are design techniques and
maintenance tips for four seasons of color, from landscape designer and author Janet
Macunovich.(1 meeting, 1 hour)
Controlling Diseases and Insects (See "Common Problems and Critter Control")
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Crystal Ball/Visualizing Changes (See presentation "Gardener's Crystal Ball" and
workshop "Try It and See")
Cut Flowers from Your Garden
Flowers are beautiful in gardens, but they should also be used to beautify the inside of your
home. Garden flowers last a week or more in fresh arrangements, and dried flowers will please
you all winter! In this class you'll learn the best ways to cut, dry and arrange your garden
flowers. Bring a small bowl (a soup bowl is fine) or a small, wide-mouth vase to class; flowers
will be supplied by instructor. (1 meeting, 3 hours; 45 minute overview on either cut flowers
or dried flowers is available -- no hands-on arranging in overview session.)
Cutting back overgrown plants (See "In over your head")
Design (See: "Armchair Gardener," "Best Foot Forward," "Design Tips", "Do It - Easy,
beautiful landscapes," "Garden Design Workshop," Landscaping Basics and Beyond,"
"Landscape Design Workshop," Mid-season Garden Design Review," "Perennial Garden
Design," Renovating Gardens and Landscapes," "Simple, Successful Garden Design," "What
Makes it English," "Year Round Landscape Design")
Design Tips: Tweaking good to make it great
Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila share their 25 years' experience to help you develop the
final touches for a garden that's "almost there." Take a look through expert eyes to review how
design elements come together in a garden so you recognize and preserve what's good in your
garden as you nudge it toward greatness. Then employ simple steps to visualize the change
before you put it in place. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Design Tips: Using Garden Art (also called “Using Garden Accent Pieces”)
Sculpture, mobiles, bird baths, plaques and other non-plant items add spice to a garden.
Whether it's a monumental work or an intimate detail, garden art is best when it's integrated
within the overall design. Garden designer Janet Macunovich helps you make the most of your
own accent pieces with these tips for choosing, placing and caring for them. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Designing Your Perennial Bed
For those who want to plant or renovate a perennial garden, a step-by-step approach. Plant
choices, placement of the bed and plants within the bed, and how to make plant combinations
flow smoothly together in any bed. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Designing and Planting Your Perennial Bed
Professional gardener and garden writer Janet Macunovich can help you get more enjoyment
from your flower bed. In this class, learn the fundamentals of designing a perennial garden.
Discuss choices of plants and placement. Learn techniques for planting that will insure a long,
beautiful life for the garden. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
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Designing for All Five Senses
People enjoy not only the look of a garden but what's there to be heard, felt, smelled and tasted.
Yet these aspects of the garden are sometimes overlooked during the design process. Don't
miss the opportunity to make the most of all the senses when you design. Garden designer and
writer Janet Macunovich helps you with a step by step process for moving beyond what's seen
to engage every sense for all it's worth. (1 meeting, 1 hour; 1/2 day workshop available)
(See also related topics under Sense-ational Workshop)
Designing With Perennials: Series
Made in the Shade- All about shade gardening, for the gardener blessed with shady
places. It offers solutions to the questions: How can I make a garden in the shade? What can I
plant? How can I make it grow? (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Small Areas/No Time- This class is for the gardener with small areas or little time to
work in his/her garden. There are some techniques and combinations that will make that
small area shine and how a little time spent in your garden doing the right thing at the right
time can make all the difference. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Doubling-Up in the Perennial Garden - Every perennial gardener grows a few
species that are beautiful one month, but ragged or gone the next. What to do with those bare
spaces? Plant another species that “comes on” during the first plant's "down time!" (1
meeting, 3 hours)
Designing With Perennials (Also called “Garden in a Box”)
Hands-on way to learn perennial garden design. Using models, learn how to use form, texture,
and foliage color to design for all-season interest. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Diseases and Insects (See "Common Problems and Critter Control")
Diagnosing Problems: Learning from loss
Problems occur even in the best landscapes: Diseases infect, insects infest, hungry animals
invade and environmental conditions from weather to parties can cause big changes in plant
health or appearance. A crash course on plant-doctoring from the practical perspective of the
professional gardener. Complete with lists of common symptoms, what they mean, and cures
that may be much simpler and much less expensive than what you're doing now.. (1 meeting, 1
hour lecture or 3-hour hands-on workshop)
Display Gardens: Lower Care, Higher Sales
Perennial display gardens can do far more for your business than sell plants. A well-maintained
display that says, "We know what we're doing -- ask us!" can also sell services, books, tools,
non-plant materials and more. Professional gardener Janet Macunovich, author of "Caring for
Perennials: What to Do and When To Do It", knows the demands of tending a display garden
can tax even the best of us. She shares her least-work schedule for keeping it looking its best. (1
meeting, 1-1/4 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 16
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Dividing Perennials
(See also "Math" and "Propagating")
One of the best features of a perennial garden is the
potential to make the plants multiply through
division . Indeed, some plants need regular division
or they deteriorate! Here's a lesson on which plants
need division and which can go without, complete
with when and how to do the actual dividing. Also
included - precautions to avoid multiplying diseases
and insects along with the plants. (1 meeting, 2
hours)
Do It! Easy, Beautiful Landscapes (Easy
Landscape Design)
This year, have the best-looking landscape in the
neighborhood. Make it the landscape of your dreams,
one that has four seasons of interest, increases your
home's value, and decreases your yardwork.
Landscape designer and author Janet Macunovich gets you started with simple steps to update
an existing landscape or design complete plans for that new home. You'll learn what to keep,
what to buy, where to plant so it all looks great now and ten years from now. (4 meetings, 12
hours; 45-60 minute overview available)
Don't Know a Plant 'til You've Killed it or, Why'd it Die?
All gardeners lose plants. Great gardeners learn from a loss. Here's a fun and very practical way
to improve your planting success rate by investigating losses and determining causes. These
diagnostic techniques and detective work apply to all plant categories, but we can incorporate
examples from particular plant groups on request. For instance, Columbo on Conifers: Why'd
it Die, or Holmes in the Herb Garden: Why'd it Die (1 meeting, 1 hour; workshop available -- 1
meeting, 3 hours)
Doubling Up in the Perennial Garden
Every perennial gardener grows a few species that are beautiful one month, but ragged or gone
the next. This is the season to decide what to do with those bare spaces. One great strategy is
to "double up" -- pair it with a species that “comes on” during the first plant's slow or slouch
period! Garden designer and writer Janet Macunovich explains what features make a plant
good for doubling-up, and shows you a line-up of her favorite combinations. (1 meeting, 2
hours)
Ear to the Ground: Sound in the garden (See also "Senses: All the Best Sense in a
Garden")
There can be so much satisfaction in filling your ears as well as your eyes with pleasant and
stimulating sounds. Here's a presentation to help you tune up that aspect of your garden, with
more nice sounds, less unwanted noise. (1 session, 1 hour; 2 hour workshop available)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 17
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Earthwise Gardening
This session will discuss how to prepare your
garden and maintain soil condition so the
garden grows well for many years. A variety
of methods for soil preparation will be
discussed, including double digging “virgin
soils,” working under trees, and enlisting
Mother Nature's help in correcting problem
soils. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Earthwise Gardening: Preparing the
Bed for Perennial Plants
This session will discuss how to prepare your
perennial garden and maintain soil
condition so the garden grows well for many
years. A variety of methods for soil
preparation will be discussed, including
double digging “virgin soils,” working under
trees, and enlisting Mother Nature's help in
correcting problem soils. (1 meeting, 2
hours)
Easiest Best Perennials
Take a look at four dozen perennials that have made Janet & Steven's list as the best perennials
for those who want plants that contribute in a big way to the landscape but require only simple
care in small measure. You'll see the plants and receive a straightforward review of the best use
for each, plus tips for placing them and managing them. (1 meeting, 2 hours or a 1 hour
overview)
Easy Garden Design (See "Simple, Successful Garden Design")
Easy Landscape Design (See "Do It! Easy, Beautiful Landscapes")
Ecological Gardener: A look at the impact of gardening on the environment
What are you doing, intentionally or unwittingly, to the air, water and soil quality of your area,
and to the wildlife mix? Take a look at see if you're making a positive contribution or can
improve your record. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 18
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Edible Landscapes: Just grazing through
There's nothing better than picking and eating right from your own garden. The plants you
enjoy this way don't have to be confined to your vegetable plot, however. Here's a look at
helping traditional vegetables make their way in ornamental beds, and discovering ornamental
plants whose qualifications as fruits and vegetables you may have overlooked. Garden designer
and writer Janet Macunovich will have you grazing through your whole landscape this year. (1
meeting, 1 hour)
Effective Photogardening (See Photography in the Garden)
English Garden Design (See: “What Makes it English?”)
Entry Gardens -- The Great Impression (See "Best Foot Forward")
Expert Perspective: The Gardener's Eye:
Janet and Steven's unique way of making the always-personalized presentations they bring to
you one step closer to your group's heart and hand, by using the host's own gardening territory
to illustrate their messages. For instance, when a garden club invited Janet to speak to a
community in conjunction with the club's annual garden tour fund raiser, Janet and Steven
photographed the tour gardens and showed the audience where to see examples of the
techniques and issues covered in Janet's presentation "Color in the Garden." When Steven was
engaged to explain why and how wildlife might be designed into and encouraged in a garden,
he explored areas close to the conference facility to include illustrations of wildlife-friendly
places, plants and potential. And when asked to help gardeners recognize and manage
problems in the landscape Janet and Steven took their large audience on a virtual tour of the
symposium facility's own grounds, showing what, why and how in close-up detail usually
possible only in one-on-one coaching. Almost any of Janet and Steven's presentations can be
customized to The Gardener's Eye. Advance notice is always necessary. Special access
arrangements may be required, involving host intercession. Additional fees may apply. See
"Challenging Garden" and "Gardening for Wildlife" for more examples.
Eye to Hand-y Image: Garden Photography Workshop
This workshop is for those who want to do a better job of preserving their garden's beauty in
photos and who learn best by doing. Photographer-horticulturist Steven Nikkila works with
you in three sessions: First, he explains how to capture great garden images (or workshop
participants have recently attended his presentation titled "Photography in the Garden").
Second, Steven takes you out in the gardens to shoot, and third, brings you back in to see what
worked best and why. This workshop is for any gardener and all types of camera: manual,
automatic, film and digital. Those with digital equipment have the option of selecting some of
their own shots from the workshop for review in the wrap-up session.
2-3 sessions over several days or 1 day with breaks; total 5 hours.
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 19
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Fabulous Foliage
Spring is all about renewal, surprise and a confirmation of life. It's also a great time to look into
the enormous contribution that foliage color makes in the landscape. While we're delighting in
dew-fresh, jewel-tone flowers we should also note how pale they would be without all the rich
foliage in blue, maroon, gold, white and every imaginable green. Here are ways to predict and
capitalize on foliage in your landscape combinations for all four seasons. Once you hear all that
foliage can do for you and your garden or landscape, you may never again fall for a flower's
pretty face!(1 meeting, 1 hour)
Fall Bed Preparation
New perennial gardens will do much better and will be easier to plant in the spring with proper
fall bed preparation. Learn how and why to place, prepare, and improve your perennial bed
now. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Fall Color Trees and Shrubs
Fall color can be an eight week finale to the
growing season and the highlight of a four-season
landscape. Every Great Lakes landscape can have
great color in fall and be the envy of people from
other regions and continents. Here are plants to
consider adding or featuring in your landscape,
with tips on combining them in designs and
managing them through the year for more and
better color.
Fall Planting to Save Time and Money
Learn why plants and gardens started in fall outperform spring plantings. Save time and money
with these tips on soil preparation, plant selection
and planting. (1 meeting, 45-60 minutes)
Fall Planting for Wildlife
If you are a gardener who wants to attract the
birds, butterflies or small animals to your garden
don't miss this talk, and don't miss this season!
Fall is an excellent time to plant trees, shrubs,
vines, perennials, and bulbs to get a head start on
next year's wildlife garden. Detroit News garden
writer Janet Macunovich has tips on what to
plant, where to buy it, and how to make it thrive.
(1 meeting, 3 hours; 45 minute overview available)
Favorite Plants (also "Janet's Favorite..." or "Horticultural All-Stars) (See also
Wish List: Favorite Perennials New and Old)
Here are the trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that professional landscape designer Janet
Macunovich picks when she must whittle the choices 'way down, yet still be sure to design a
beautiful, classic, enduring landscape. Have fun picking one from her list that you already
have, then seeing how she builds a winning combination from that starting point. (1 meeting, 1
hour)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 20
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Fertilizers (See “Making the Most of Soils and Fertilizers’)
A Fine Edge: Fencing, walls, hedges and other great garden edges (See also “Hedges"
and "Design Basics: Setting boundaries")
Ideas for structures and plantings that define a garden area, with special emphasis on fencing
of all types, from hand made wattle to home store stockade. This presentation helps you learn
how to select a fence style for aesthetics and good growing conditions, what to consider as you
decide when and where to install it, and guides you through practical issues such as finishes
and winterizing. (1 hour, 1 session; 3 hour hands-on workshop available)
Fine-pruning the Landscape (See "Pruning Trees and Shrubs")
Focal Points: True Gems in Landscape or Garden
Here's a chance to step back and look at your yard with fresh eyes. You may be surprised to
learn that all you need there is focus, whether you already have a great collections or a clean
slate. Janet Macunovich or Steven Nikkila show you where to draw attention in a yard or
garden, why, and how. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Foliage (See Fabulous Foliage)
Folklore, Gardening (See "Holiday Magic," "Thanks Great Grand-folks," "Gardening FOR
Children," and "What the Groundhog Won't Tell " )
Four-season Interest in the Garden and Landscape
(See also "Persuading Perennials," "Landscaping to Delight the Eye for all Four Seasons," and
"Year-Round Landscape")
Four-season landscapes start in Fall!
Gardens and landscapes don't have to look like moonscapes during the off-season. Perennials
have a lot to offer even from October to April, and the character of a tree or shrub is often
better out of its bloom season than while it's in flower. To reap four seasons of interest from
your landscape, start right now to choose plants that will fill seasonal gaps but keep in
mind that's only part of the answer. How you place and maintain those plants and other garden
features is even more important. Here are design techniques, plant suggestions and
maintenance tips from garden designer and author Janet Macunovich. (1 meeting, 1 hour; 3
hour workshop available)
Fragrant garden (See "Senses: All the Best Sense in a Garden" and "Nosing Around")
Fundamentals of Gardening
An introduction to garden design and planting: plant selection, placement, acquiring plants
and materials, planting, and soil preparation. (Overview: 1 meeting, 1-1/2 hour. Workshop: a
chance to try your hand at the basics, 6 meetings, 12 hours)
Garden and Landscape Renovation
Most gardeners inherit at least one previously-planted area. This class teaches how to make
changes within a garden or a yard to express yourself while maintaining unity between new
and old. What to keep, how to visualize changes, designing around existing features,
transplanting and soil improvement techniques, tips toward phasing in the changes, and
suggested plants are all covered. (5 meetings, 20 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 21
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Garden by Mail
Bring your garden plans and a pencil - it's time to find those special plants you need and get
your order into the mail! Janet Macunovich makes a career of designing with unusual
perennial plants and finding the growers who sell them. She will help you find the plants and
decide where to buy them to get the most for your dollar. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Garden Design Workshop
Here's a chance to practice designing perennial gardens. Landscape designer Janet
Macunovich gives you the help you need: to put your ideas on paper, find plants and materials,
and plan soil preparation and planting of that garden. Ideal for those already acquainted with
perennial gardening, but not yet proficient in design and planting. (3 meetings, 3 hours)
Garden Fitness: Make your garden or landscape fit you!
Simple steps to designing a garden or landscape that fits you, your budget and your site. You'll
learn how to:
• Plan or renovate a garden or landscape to suit yours or others' needs;
• Anticipate and modify the costs to fit your budget, and
• Insure the plan will work on your specific site.
This simple approach works for first time gardeners as well as professionals, do-it-yourselfers
as well as those working from another's plan, and annual flower beds as well as perennial beds
and whole landscapes.
Garden in a Box (see “Designing with Perennials”)
Garden Maintenance - July (For general garden maintenance. See also “Perennial Garden
Maintenance”
Short course on maintaining the garden, specific to July. Includes outdoor hands-on
workshop. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Also available in April, May, June, August and October versions.
Garden Medicine Chest
Looking into your own medicine chest can help you understand what preventive and curative
products you will probably need for your plants and how best to use them. You may even find
some products that serve both human and plant ailments! (1 meeting, 1 to 2 hours)
Garden Photography Workshop (See "Eye to Hand-y Image")
.
"Gardener, Hedge Your Bets!" (Springtime presentation)
A look at what you can do this spring to end your headaches matching USDA hardiness zones
to your particular local area Mother Nature's winter capriciousness. What makes plants hardy
and hardier, how to learn which plants might be "pushed" beyond or not even trusted to their
catalog-proclaimed zones, and how what you do right now in spring affects winter survival of
even the hardiest plants. Presenter Janet Macunovich
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 22
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"Gardener, Hedge Your Bets!" (Summer/fall presentation)
Sometimes gardeners invest great hopes in a new perennial or shrub only to be disappointed
the next spring when all that's left of it is an empty spot in the garden. Hardiness -- winter
survival -- isn't only an issue of zone numbers but of what we do when we plant and tend the
garden all through the growing season. Sometimes fall is an especially pivotal time for plants
"on the edge" of hardiness. In this talk professional gardener and author Janet Macunovich will
introduce you to a stellar line-up of plants, help you see what makes some hardy, others
hardier, and some even willing to be "pushed" to a colder zone.
Gardeners, the 21st Century Shamans
Many gardeners are more attuned to the natural world
than the average person. As a result, many nongardeners view gardeners as special people, the shamans
and wisewomen of the modern world. Here's a look at
how and why that happens, and the opportunity it
affords the gardener to increase his or her contribution to
the community's well-being. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
A Gardener's Crystal Ball: Visualizing changes to
a garden or landscape
Professional gardener and author Janet Macunovich has
learned that it isn't lack of ideas that cause gardeners to
put needed landscape and garden plans "on hold."
Rather, it's a reluctance to commit when we are unsure
how the change will play out on that stage we see out our
windows. In this talk, Janet will show you her process for
visualizing changes and give you a chance to try your
hand at this simple, step by step way to see into the
future of your garden or landscape. Says Janet, "People
do amazing things, once they have a way to project what's
in their minds onto paper or the site itself!" (1 session, 1-1/4 hr.) (workshop, see "Try It and
See")
Gardener's Health
Gardening is a great way to stay healthy but it isn't without risks. Garden wisely, with an
awareness of how your techniques, tools and materials can affect your muscles, bones, skin and
respiratory system. Learn how to avoid or alleviate these problems. (2 meetings, 6 hours or
overview 1 meeting 1 hour)
Gardening and Allergies
Gardening is a great way to stay healthy but it isn't without risk to individuals with allergies.
Professional gardener, author and educator Janet Macunovich helps you plan or change a
beautiful garden, one you can live in without rash or respiratory distress. She'll help you
increase your awareness of when and how gardening can bring you into contact with plants and
other materials that may cause allergic reaction, and what you can do to minimize contact but
still enjoy your garden. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 23
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Gardening for Wildlife
If you are a gardener who wants to attract the birds, butterflies or small animals that share our
land, this is your seminar. Learn what benefits and problems to expect, what to plant and how
to plant it to provide food and shelter for your wild friends. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
The Gardener's Eye: Wildlife in your garden
Gardener and non-gardener see different things in the same scene. Encouraging
beneficial wildlife is simpler for those whose eyes have learned to recognize the
important patterns related to birds, butterflies and small animals that can improve a
landscape as well as heighten a gardener's enjoyment of the garden. Take this look
through an expert's eye to learn what benefits and problems to expect when you open
the door to wildlife, what to plant and how to plant it and tend it to provide food and
shelter for your wild friends. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
(See "Expert Perspective" for more about this type of presentation)
Gardening From the Ground Up
A yearly teaching conference offered to the general public through Perennial Favorites a garden
design and maintenance firm owned and operated by Janet Macunovich. This conference
offers diverse topics, wonderful speakers, and ambiance that the gardening fanatic will truly
enjoy after a long winter. (1 meeting, 6 hours)
Gardening in Small Spaces (See Small Spaces)
Gardening in Wet Areas
Many gardeners have a soggy, undeveloped corner or pond edge that could be transformed by
colorful plantings. The best ways to prepare and plant these areas, and a line-up of beautiful
wetland plants are discussed. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Gardening on Clay Soil
Although gardening on clay offers unique
opportunities, it also takes special knowledge
and techniques to realize the potential. This
presentation shows what clay has to offer,
how to work it to reap the rewards without
breaking your back, and what to plant in it so
your garden will be the envy of all your sandy,
loamy gardening friends. (1 meeting, variouslength versions available)
Gardens of the Future
Where is gardening going in the next few
years? Have fun considering the trends,
peeking at where others are heading, and
picturing the garden of ten years from now, in
this presentation by professional gardener,
author and educator Janet Macunovich. (1
meeting; lecture or workshop format and
various-length versions available.)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 24
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Getting the Garden Ready for Spring
Even if your garden makes you happy just as it is, there are things you can do in early spring to
make the whole season easier and the garden more lush. Shrubs, trees and groundcover beds
benefit from your attention in the spring, and repay you with reduced needs in summer. It's
also a wonderful time to rearrange or expand a perennial garden. This class is a chance to start
off on that right foot toward a great season. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Grasses in the Perennial Garden
Beautiful grasses are being showcased in garden magazines, and some catalogues offer many
different types for sale. Which are good for your garden and your needs? Get to know two
dozen grasses for ornamental use, cutting, drying, feeding the birds, or replacing your lawn. (1
meeting, 2 hours)
Great Garden Give-away (See "What Your Garden Says About You ")
Great Plants and Plant Combinations: The best of the best perennials, trees and
shrubs
Most designers aim for year-round interest, but sometimes the design process gets bogged
down in looking for color alone. Here are suggestions for trees, shrubs and perennials that not
only look great together for their seasonal colors but also for their combined forms, textures
and foliage characteristics. Best yet, each of these groups is compatible in terms of their site
requirements -- each member in a group grows well in the same amount of light, moisture, and
type of soil. You'll see not only suggestions for sunny garden spots but shaded, dry, wet, even
windy sites. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours)
Green Revival: The perennial garden as spring tonic
Spring is the season of renewal, surprise and a confirmation of life. In the perennial garden we
delight in dew-fresh, jewel-tone flowers but far more important is all the rich foliage in blue,
maroon, gold, white and every imaginable green. Here are ideas for predicting and capitalizing
on foliage in spring perennial combinations as well as how to conduct spring maintenance to
make the rest of the year flow smoothly and beautifully from that start. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Groundhog Tradition (See "What the Groundhog Won't Tell ")
Gurus, 21st Century (See "Gardeners: 21st Century Shamans")
Hardiness Zones, pushing the limits (See "Gardener, Hedge Your Bets.")
Hardy Hydrangeas
Why is it so hard to grow a blue or pink hydrangea in Michigan? How do I prune my climbing
hydrangea? What do I do when my peegee hydrangea flops over like a mophead? These
questions and more answered in this thorough look at growing hydrangeas in Michigan
gardens. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Hedge Your Bets (See "Gardener, Hedge Your Bets.")
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 25
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Hedges: Living walls for outdoor rooms
The hedge is an ancient device that's also one of the newest trends, coming back in vogue as
people recognize the benefits and fun they can have from dividing their property into distinct
living areas. This talk begins with a look at where to plan a hedge and why, for maximum
contribution to the landscape. It covers plants that work well as hedges, including a look at
some traditional woody species, how various hot new introductions work in a hedge and even
some herbaceous ideas. And it includes directions for planting and maintaining a healthy
hedge. (1 meeting, 2-3 hours)
Herbs: Breaking out into the landscape
Herbs are hardly the dowdy, green lumps some people imagine them to be. Here's a look at the
role they already are playing and can play in all parts of the landscape, around homes and
businesses of all types. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
History of Gardens in the U.S. (See "Thank You Great-Grandfolks ")
Holiday Magic: Plants of Christmas lore
The holidays are steeped in plant lore, from the decorations to our traditional foods, gifts,
games and greetings. Take some time out to explore the connections between the garden and
the Christmas season. (1 meeting, 1 hour; children's version 30 minutes)
Holiday Decorations from Your Garden
How to make decorations for your door, table or hearth from evergreens, persistent stems and
pods collected in your own garden. You'll learn not only how to make a simple, beautiful
decoration but also add more fun to all your holiday decorating by learning the folklore that
underlies these traditions. (Lecture-demo or hands-on workshop versions available. 1 meeting,
1 to 3 hours depending on format; children's version 30 minutes; additional fee may apply to
workshop format)
Horticultural Therapy
Good for mind, body and soul, that's gardening. A thoughtful look at the non-plant benefits of
gardening. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Hot Weather Gardening Tips
A beautiful, healthy garden can be a cool, refreshing sight during the dog days of summer. This
session will help you understand how to plan and maintain your garden so that it will not only
survive but thrive in the heat and humidity of July and August. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Houseplants and indoor gardens (See "Admitting you're hooked")
How to Select Plants
A guide to picking healthy plants that are right for the place you have in mind. Indispensable
information to know before you get to the nursery or garden center. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Hydrangeas (See Hardy Hydrangeas)
Improving the Older Garden
Established gardens and landscapes share certain challenges: shade, worn out soil, overgrown
trees and shrubs, and barren but high-visibility spots. Here are tips on where to start, how to
overcome the worst obstacles, and which plants to choose. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 26
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Indoor gardens (See "Admitting you're hooked")
Insects and Diseases (See "Common Problems and Critter Control")
In Over Your Head: Cutting back the rambunctious garden
For new gardeners who find that their garden is growing bigger than they expected and for
confirmed gardeners who must have it all whether there's enough room or not! Basics of
pruning hedges, shrubs and trees to shape them, keep them small or cut them back to start
over. Fundamentals of cutting back herbaceous plants too, including perennials, herbs, even
vegetables that need shaping, improved density, delayed flowering, reduction in size, renewal
of appearance, or clean-up at season's end. Instructor Janet Macunovich has over twenty years
experience in taming over-enthusiastic, unruly and unexpectedly large plants in her own,
clients' and students' landscapes. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Invasive Plants: The situation, the plants and you
What is an invasive plant? Why are they a problem worthy of attention by the U.S. government,
plant growers and grassroots movements all over the country? Which invasive plants should
you be aware of in your region, and what can you do about individual problem species and the
overall situation? Here is a presentation of the situation, the plants you should know about and
what you can do about them in your garden and locality. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Keeping Your Garden Fresh and Colorful all Season (See "Maintenance: Keeping Your
Garden Looking Good"; See also "Primping Perennials" and "Continuous Color")
Know Them to Grow Them: Tree I.D. as key to a great landscape (See Tree I.D.)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 27
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Landscaping Basics and Beyond: A modular series
Enjoy the whole series, a one-day workshop, or 90-minute individual topics aimed at the
beginning- or reluctant gardener.
Design Basics: A one-day workshop in 3 parts. Even the best design and toughest plants
need attention to look their best and fulfill their purpose in a yard. These segments help you
with the basics of tree, shrub and lawn care, how to maintain flowering plant areas to keep
them easy and beautiful, and how to handle the problems that most often arise in the home
landscape.
Coloring Your Landscape: A one-day workshop in 3 parts. One of the things most people
want and many people find hard to achieve, is a landscape that's colorful year-round. Success
and steady color come from what you use to plant and construct your landscape plus how you
arrange and tend those components. Here's the secrets and the way to use them, in three
separate segments. Attend the one that suits you best, or come learn from all three.
Tending the Landscape: A one-day workshop in 3 parts. Even the best design and toughest
plants need attention to look their best and fulfill their purpose in a yard. These segments help
you with the basics of tree, shrub and lawn care, how to maintain flowering plant areas to keep
them easy and beautiful, and how to handle the problems that most often arise in the home
landscape.
(Design, Coloring, and Tending each contain three topics, which can be mixed and matched.
The three sessions and their individual 90-minute segments are as follows)
Landscaping Basics and Beyond Series (Cont'd.)
Part 1 detail, its three separable sessions
Design Basics: Deciding What to Do With Your Yard - Guidance and hands-on
chances for taking a critical, time-saving, money-saving look at what landscaping can do for
you and what it can't do. You'll have help deciding where plants will do the most for you, where
you need hard structures such as fencing or paving, and how to describe exactly what you need
to suppliers so you can start off on the best foot. Also covered: Guides to help you determine
how many .of a given plant or how much of a material you need; checklists for making sound
decisions about keeping or replacing existing parts of a landscape; and how to use scale
drawings to speed the work and shave your costs.
Design Basics: Choosing and Planting Trees - Your chance to figure out what a
tree is worth, and which are the best types to plant to give you the shade, beauty, property
value improvement or other benefit you're seeking. Your hands-on portion of the session and
take-away materials help you know how to place a new tree to best advantage, plant a tree and
give it all it needs to "take off" and grow.
Design Basics: Setting Boundaries with Shrubs, Walls, Hedges, Fences and
More - Did you know that the best way to make a small yard suit its occupants better may be
to divide it into "rooms?" Or have you recognized any truth in the saying "Good fences make
good neighbors?" If you answered "Is that right?!" to the first question or "Oh, yes!" to the
second, then this session is for you. It's all about sectioning your yard -- away from others, and
into comfortable spaces. You'll see and hear about and even be able to "try out," great ideas,
materials and plants to divide space quickly and effectively.
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 28
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Landscaping Basics and Beyond (Modular series, Cont'd.)
Part 2 detail, its three separable sessions
Coloring Your Landscape: Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Groundcovers Catalogs and plant tags are great marketing devices, which do create sales. Yet many of those
dollars are wasted, along with the time we put into waiting for plants to mature. It happens
when a tree's true nature or shrub's potential size becomes evident over time -- and is wrong
for our purposes. This is the session to attend if you want to know which bushes, trees and
groundcovers you should plant for most reliability, easiest care and most beauty. These are the
expert's choices, each plant description accompanied by specific recommendations for use on a
small or average sized lot. You'll also learn how to ask the right questions and make smart
decisions about other plants you may see in books or offered at your local supplier.
Coloring Your Landscape: Annual and Perennial Flowers - When it comes to
flowers, most of us are a pushover for a pretty face. But it's not the best way to spend your
money or time, to buy one of everything and find out later that only some are suited for your
yard and needs. Here's a session for you to meet the best of the best flowers among annuals
(planted each year) and perennials (remains alive and grows back each spring). Hands-on
activities during the session will help you to take away a customized list for your next trip to the
garden center. Tips lists will give you help arrange and plant them for greatest success.
Coloring Your Landscape: Designing Flowering Plant Combinations Sometimes people load their yard with plants and still feel they don't have enough color. Often,
the answer to that problem is not to add still more plants, each for their color, but to work on
how those you have or buy work together in combinations. Attend this session and you will
walk away with ideas and practice that you can put to use right away this spring, moving,
replacing or adding just the right things.
Part 3 detail, its three separable sessions
Tending the Landscape: Simple, Effective Tree, Shrub and Lawn Care - We
all want a nicer-looking yard, but no one wants to be a slave to yardwork! If you feel that you're
spending too much time or money taking care of your trees, bushes or lawn, or like you're not
getting what you want from your efforts, you should come learn the basics and tips from an
expert. The goal in this session: To help every person who attends, make a list of specifically
what they can do and how much time and money can be saved at each step.
Tending the Landscape: Handling Problems - Problems occur even in the best
landscapes. If diagnosing problems and treating plant ailments is taking up more time and
creating more brain strain than you like, come here for this crash course on plant-doctoring.
Complete with lists of common symptoms, what they mean, and cures that are so much
simpler and probably much less expensive than what you're doing now or think you must do.
Also included: Some of the most common "hardscape" problems, how to know they may be
occurring in your yard, and how to solve them.
Tending the Landscape: Tending Flower Beds - Flower beds add beauty but they
take more time to maintain than lawn and groundcover or shrub areas. Look during this
session at the essential care flowers need, how to schedule it so it's not dragging you down and
how to get it done most efficiently without sacrificing -- and probably increasing! -- the
garden's beauty.
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 29
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Landscape Design Workshop (Also called "Step by Step Landscape Design Workshop")
Learn how to design a landscape from the ground up, or how to re-do an existing landscape.
During this class you'll focus on your own yard as you learn to set realistic objectives for a
landscape, pass judgment on existing plants, decide where to place plants and visualize the
changes, select plants that will thrive, and capture your ideas on paper. During the workshop
portion of the class, you will have the help of an experienced landscape designer, as you work
on your own personalized design. Pre-class assignment: assessing your site, including
submitting a soil test for analysis, and beginning a scale drawing of the site. (4 meetings, 12
hours)
Landscape Design Workshop II
(Or) Landscape Design: Right there in your
back yard
Focus on your own back yard to learn and apply the
basic steps of landscape design: how to design
spaces for all the activities that take place in your
outdoor living areas; what to remove, keep, move
and add; where to place new plants; how to
visualize changes; how to estimate costs and phase
in the changes. Information in this class is
applicable to new homes as well as those in need of
landscape renovation. Participants complete an
assignment before the class begins; during class
they use that information about their own yards to
begin a custom design which employs the
principles and tips presented by the instructor. (4
meetings, 2.5 hours each; or 2 meetings, 5 hours
each)
Landscape Design: Adapting the best from
what you see around town
(Also called “Landscape Critique through the
Windshield”)
We all see hundreds of landscapes, in all seasons ...
while we're driving around town! Every one of
-them
no matter
- no matter
how like
howorlike
unlike
or unlike
your own
youryard
own-yard
has
something to teach us about style, placement of
basic elements, balance of seasonal interest,
planting techniques and even about maintenance.
All that's required is a process for analyzing what
you see at 25 m.p.h. - that's what this presentation
will help you do. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 30
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Landscape Ideas from 50 Favorite Gardens, Before-After
Steven Nikkila and Janet Macunovich walk you through time as well as beautiful spaces to give
you ideas, laughs, hopes and consolation in your own gardening efforts. This creative and
entertaining team has worked together for over 20 years to design, plant, renovate and capture
gardens, on camera and in "how to" books and articles. In this talk they cover some of their
favorite projects and subjects and share the lessons learned from each.
Landscape Renovation (See "New Life for Older Landscapes")
Landscaping to Delight the Eye for All Four Seasons
Gardens and the landscapes they occupy don't have to look like moonscapes during the offseason. Perennials have a lot to offer even from October to April, and the character of a tree or
shrub is often better out of its bloom season than while it's in flower! To reap four seasons of
interest from your landscape, it's wise to choose species and varieties carefully, but that's only
part of the answer. How you place and maintain plants and other garden features is even more
important. Here are design techniques and maintenance tips from garden and landscape
designer and author Janet Macunovich. (1 hour)
Limitless Gardening in a Limited World
Renowned landscape architect Thomas Church once said "The only limits to your garden are at
the edges of your imagination." Janet proposes to expand our limits with new perspectives and
ideas, shaking off the bonds of ho-hum convention, cost, space, energy and even time. (1
meeting, 1 hour)
Local Color
We all deserve more and better color from our perennial gardens. Yet improving what's already
colorful isn't a simple matter of addition or a prescription that works across the gardening
world. After all, a plant that blooms to say 'spring's over' in the Great Lakes, heralds 'high
summer' to a Scot and 'fall' to an Icelander. Selections made for fantastic hue in one part of the
world may be duds elsewhere. And the tones and other influences of indigenous plants, light
and even building materials can alter perennial color. Here's a chance to learn some color
sequences and tricks for your own lovely locality. (1 session, 1 hour)
Local Color (Fall)
We all deserve more and better color from our perennial gardens. Yet improving what's already
colorful isn't a simple matter of addition or a prescription that works across the gardening
world. After all, a plant that blooms to say 'spring's over' in the Midwest heralds 'high summer'
to a Scot and 'fall' to an Icelander. Selections made for fantastic hue in one part of the world
may be duds elsewhere. Designing for the sumptuous fall color of Great Lakes is entirely
different than designing where autumn is more muted (most of the rest of the world!). To all of
this add the fact that the tones and other influences of indigenous plants, light and even
building materials can alter perennial color. Here's a chance to learn some color sequences and
tricks for your own lovely locality.
Long Interest Perennials
An in-depth look at perennials that provide interesting flower, form, and foliage throughout
the growing season. Includes how to grow and care for each to be sure it achieves its potential
in your garden. Species for sun and shade are included. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Low Maintenance Gardens (See "Saving Time in the Garden")
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Low Maintenance Landscapes (See also related "Saving Time in the Garden")
If you are planning or renovating a landscape, now is the time to plan to make sure you have
the least possible ongoing care to do in that yard. Although there isn't any such thing as a no
maintenance landscape, there are ways to predict the work and keep it to a minimum. This
presentation is full of practical tips from a professional gardener and garden writer. (1 meeting,
1-1/2 hours)
Mail Order Gardening (See "Gardening by Mail")
Maintenance: Keeping the garden looking good, summer edition
In summer, what really counts toward a good looking, colorful garden are great plant
combinations and great gardening tricks. It's not just the plant species and varieties that you
use for neat form and interesting foliage but how well you "tweak" it all to extend, delay and
coax repeat bloom. Here are plant suggestions and practical techniques for your garden's good
looks. (1 hour, 1 session)
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Maintaining Perennial Gardens (See also “Professional Series” for maintenance classes
for professional gardeners) (See also “Real World Maintenance” for hands-on classes)
Maintaining Perennial Beds - A beautiful perennial bed takes more than good
design. It's the result of regular, informed care. Designer-writer Janet Macunovich designs,
plants and maintains perennial beds through her business, Perennial Favorites. In this class
she gives us an in-depth look at the basic skills a perennial gardener must master, from
weeding and edging to deadheading and winterizing. Janet provides a new perspective on
perennial care, prioritizing the various tasks and placing them on a seasonal calendar of events.
(1 meeting, 2 hours; also available in 1 hour overview)
Maintaining Perennial Beds:
Beyond the Basics - Whenever we begin to get
Janet Macunovich wrote the book on
comfortable in maintaining the perennial garden, this aspect of maintenance, "Caring for
a new species presents itself or we find ourselves
Perennials" (Storey Publishing, 1995).
in a unique position not covered in our standard
These presentations are a " best of"
references. Here's help toward thinking on your
compilation from that book, which has
feet the next time the going gets rough. This
something for everyone and every
class assumes familiarity with basic perennial
garden. The chapter titles say it all:
maintenance skills as covered in “Maintaining
Introduction: The Year in a Garden
Perennial Beds.” From there, it goes beyond, into
New Year's Calm: Planning the Season
Midwinter Restlessness: Finding Plants & Tools
how to care for specific plants, what to do when
Earliest Stirrings: Pruning
recommended timing or sequencing of chores
Opening Moves: Edging & Weeding
can't be followed, and renovating older beds.
Before the Green Rush: Dividing & Mulching
(1 meeting, 2 hours)
Tending to the First Wave: Watering,
A Season in the Perennial Garden:
Fertilizing, Planting and Staking
Ushering in Summer: Controlling Pests,
April to November Care of Perennials - A
Watering, & More Planting
unique, step-by-step account of what's done to
Establishing Summer's Routine: Deadheading,
maintain a perennial bed, how, when and why.
Pinching & Managing Problems
Illustrated with pictures and examples from an
Enjoying the Harvest: Playing in the Garden
actual season of work in a botanical garden
Anticipating Fall: Transplanting, &
Preliminaries to Closing
perennial bed. General maintenance procedures
Using Fall Wisely: Weeding to Last a Winter
are covered, plus specific care of over 30 species.
Closing Up Before Winter: Putting the Garden
This is a realistic class for real-life
to Bed
gardeners. It focuses on saving time, making wise Winter's Onset: Reducing Maintenance &
decisions when actual developments don't match
Reflecting on the Season
Maintenance Chart: Care of Particular Perennial
textbooks and other practical advice. Many
Species
people know what kind of work it takes to keep a
perennial bed looking its best. This class goes
beyond, to help you get it done according to a professional gardener's least-work schedule.
(1 meeting, 4.5 hours)
A Season in the Perennial Garden: April to November Care of Perennials - A
unique, step-by-step account of what's done to maintain a perennial bed -- how, when and why
-- all according to a professional gardener's least-work schedule. Illustrated with pictures and
examples from an actual season of work in a botanical garden perennial bed. This realistic class
focuses on saving time, making wise decisions when real life doesn't match the textbooks, and
other practical advice. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 33
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Makeovers (See "When Cheating is A-OK: Quick and Magical Makeovers for Big Events in
Your Garden")
Making the Most of Soils and Fertilizers
Beautiful gardens begin at ground level with good, fertile soil - something you can have by
understanding basics of soils and fertilizers. Learn your soil type, its good qualities and
challenges. Turn tough soils into great ones. Look at when to test the soil, how to use results
and fertilizers wisely. (2 meeting, 4 hours)
Making More Plants: Divide and multiplying in your garden: (See "Math for
Gardeners: Divide and multiply your plants!")
Math for Gardeners: Divide and multiply your perennials
Every gardener has a favorite plant. Often, it's a unique, hard-to-find or even heirloom variety,
but we'd love to have more of it. Here's a hands-on run-down of ways to make more of almost
any plant in your garden or home (perennial, houseplant, shrubs, even trees), presented by
professional gardener and writer Janet Macunovich. (1 meeting, 1 hour; various focused
workshops and multiple-session courses available)
Meadow Gardens
America's pioneering spirit has been captured by the vision of sunny meadows blanketed with
carefree, natural wildflowers. It is possible to create that meadow wildflower area. In this
seminar, garden designer Janet Macunovich tells you how. Special note: If you have a shady
area you would like to plant in wildflowers, this class will help you in preparing the soil,
choosing and planting the seed, but plants specifically for the shade are addressed in the class
“Shady Gardens”. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Medicine Chest (See "Garden Medicine Chest")
Michigan Garden Kaleidoscope
A State-wide look at gardens and gardeners, focusing on the many different reasons to gardens,
and the innovative ways that gardeners get what they want from a diversity of sites and
lifestyles. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours, or a grand look at how those gardens and gardeners evolve
over a ten year span, 1 meeting 3 hours.)
Michigan Gardening: Why it's a great place to grow
Here are the best aspects and the biggest challenges Michigan gardeners have. This is your
chance to appreciate where you have it good -- great stuff to counter the boasts you might hear
from friends in other regions! -- and to learn how to grow past the rough spots. Presented by
Janet Macunovich, an entertaining speaker who's gardened professionally in Michigan for over
30 years, which puts her in a great place to talk to gardeners here at home. She also designs
and tends further afield, from New England to the Carolinas, which has given her a great
perspective on what's different in gardening those other zones. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours)
Michigan Natives in the Landscape
Many people are surprised to learn how many plants already in our gardens and yards are
native to Michigan, and how many more there are that can add beauty and other endearing
qualities. Garden writer Janet Macunovich gives you tips for making the most of native plants'
best qualities: lower maintenance, less disease and pest problems and more wildlife..(1
meeting, 3 hours; overview available - 1 hour)
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Michigan Wildflowers in the Perennial Garden
Many native flowering species will adapt to garden conditions and fill niches that more
commonly cultivated perennials cannot. Here's a look at what can be grown, how/where plants
can be obtained without destroying natural areas, and how to maintain the wildflower garden.
Shady woodland and sunny meadow species are included. (1 meeting, 1 hour; this material is
covered within the three-hour version of "Michigan Natives in The Landscape.")
Michigan Wildflower Walk: Garden revelations
Walk in one of southeast Michigan's richest woods to learn some native plants at their
prettiest. Along the way take tips from Nature and your guide, Janet Macunovich or Steven
Nikkila, about soil renewal, fertilization, plant placement and more. Meeting at _____(time)
on ____________(day, date) at _________________________ (location such as
"Goose Meadow picnic area parking lot, Highland Recreation Area. Off M-59 west of Bogie
Lake Road in White Lake Township"). $20 voluntary contribution. You are responsible to
provide or purchase a State Park daily- or seasonal vehicle pass for your car. Dress for hiking in
the weather. Sorry, wheelchair access not available at this location.
Mid-season Garden Design Review
Here it is, July. No denying it's summer, now. How has your spring planning and planting
shaped up? What can you do if that new or changed garden is not what you imagined it would
be? How do you know if new plants are thriving? What should you do if they aren't? If there are
perennial plants, shrubs or trees involved, how can you know what they will look like in a
month or a year? Is there anything you can do this late in the season to improve on what you
started in spring? In this program, professional gardener and author Janet Macunovich
answers these questions and more, to help you get the most out of your flower garden. (1
session, 30-45 minutes.)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 35
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Mixed Borders
A garden doesn't have to be restricted to annual or perennial flowers. It can consist of
perennials, annuals, bulbs and trees and shrubs. Here's a look at how to design a beautiful
"mixed border" plus advice on how to tend a bed when it's filled with so many different kinds of
plants. (1 session, 3 hours)
More than a Garden: Balm for the soul, glue for the family (also called "Benefits of
Gardening")
An interesting look at the non-plant aspects of a garden -- why plants fascinate people, how
contact with them can relieve stress, what can be included in a garden to build family unity,
and how community gardening ideals have shaped the face of America. (1 session, 45-60
minutes)
Myths and Legends from the Garden (See also "Classes FOR Children"
Did you know that the “yarrow” we grow in our gardens was once called woundwort, and was
one of the Greek hero Achilles main medicines? Or that every forget-me-not recalls a brave
knight in shining armor? Many of our garden plants have such roots in ancient times. The
stories you'll hear will make you look twice, laugh, or even bow to the flowers, shrubs and trees
in your own yard. (1 meeting, 1 hour; children's version available)
Myths and Realities of Perennial Gardening
Perennial plants are in the public eye and, like all public figures, have been distorted by the
media! This talk by professional perennial gardener and author Janet Macunovich will help
you avoid committing yourself to perennials that can't live up to their hype, and advise you on
ways to make the most of the winners you do bring home. (1 session, 1 hour)
Native Plants (See "Michigan Natives in the Landscape" and "Michigan Wildflowers in the
Perennial Garden")
Natural Landscapes
What does it mean to "go natural" in an urban or suburban landscape? What does the gardener
need to know before beginning to plant in such an unconventional fashion? How can he or she
decide which plants to use and how can they be arranged to look natural? Landscape designer
Janet Macunovich steps you through what to do for an existing or new landscape, what pitfalls
to avoid, plants to consider using, sources of additional information, and how to gradually
phase in a natural landscape design. (Differs from "Naturalized Gardening" in its focus on
overall design for larger areas and entire yards, and includes woody plants as well as garden
ornamentals.) (1 meeting, 3 hours; overview available - 1 hour)
Naturalized Gardening
We enjoy nature in the wild, but can we really give our garden over to nature completely?
Here's how to select what you like, introduce it to your yard, and help it establish in a
naturalized fashion. (1 meeting, 3 hours; overview available - 1 hour)
Never Too Late: Planting in Summer
Sometimes spring just flashes by, and it can seem the opportunity to plant has passed for the
year. But just because you were busy in spring remodeling, moving, chauffeuring children or
meeting big job deadlines, you don't have to live with a dull yard all summer. Don't wait until
next spring to start that garden or improve that landscape. Here's why you can plant now, and
how to make the most of the time you have to do it. (I meeting, 1 hour)
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Never Stop Growing: In pursuit of low maintenance, all the years of our lives (See
also "Simplify to Keep on Growing", and "Saving Time...")
Here's a look at what you can do to reduce the work you do in your yard and how to keep it up
even as your physical abilities change. Although there isn't any such thing as a no maintenance
garden, there are low maintenance gardens and yards and different approaches that reduce
work by making tasks simpler or physically easier. You may be surprised at how much
difference you can make with design modifications, variations in tools and timing and more.
These tips come to you from 30-year professional gardener and writer Janet Macunovich, with
lots of input from those with even more seniority. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
New Life for Older Landscapes (Also called
"Landscape Renovation")
A class for the person who wants to improve an
existing landscape. Whether you plan to do the work
yourself or work with a contractor, here's how to plan
ahead for success. In these three sessions you will
learn how to make the tough decisions about existing
plants and structures, find new plants to match your
needs, and get them planted in a way to insure good
growth. (3 meetings, 3 hours each - can be taken
individually or as a series)
New Perennials: See "Seeking the Best"
Nosing Around: Smelling your way to a better
garden
(See also "Senses: All the Best Sense in a Garden")
Olfactory fun doesn't come just from fragrant flowers
you plant but your choices, placement and
combinations in scented foliage, twigs and berries...
and what you do to entice others and remind yourself
to enjoy it. This presentation provides plant recommendations as well as design and use ideas.
(1 session, 1 hour; 2 hour workshop available)
Older Gardener, Easier Garden (See "Never Stop Growing")
Organic Gardening
The three most important aspects of gardening from an organic basis: Why organic gardeners
view the soil as a living part of the garden and how they treat it. How to match plants to a site
so that the natural environmental systems work for you. Working with nature to control pests
and diseases in a way that keeps everything in balance. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Overwintering tender perennials (See "Admitting you're hooked")
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Pathways: Improving the garden journey
How to lay out, surface and furnish pathways in your landscape. Plenty of ideas, tips and
construction details, with a chance to try your hand at a simple process for plotting a practical,
graceful, beautiful path to take everyone and everything where it must go. (1 meeting, 2.5
hours)
Perennials: The best picks
Which perennials should you grow, and why? Here's an expert's top-100 list, beautifully
illustrated and full of great information (2 meetings, 6 hours; overview available -- 1 meeting, 1
hour)
Perennial Combinations (Also called “Great Perennial Combinations”)
Most perennial gardeners aim for continuous bloom in the garden - but is it enough to think
about color? Don't overlook the power of flower form, and foliage selected to “pick up” flower
colors. Also, disregard catalog claims for plants that ‘bloom all summer’ - design instead
around the predictable peak bloom time for each species. This presentation is a look at some
terrific perennial combinations, what makes them shine so bright, and how you can develop
your own variations. Recommendations and thoughts by garden writer and designer Janet
Macunovich, based on thirty years of observation in U.S., Canadian, and British gardens. (1 or
2 sessions, 1-1/2 hours per meeting)
Perennials for the Collector
For many, perennial gardening is an addictive hobby that sets the gardener on a never ending
path for new and unusual plants. Garden designer and writer Janet Macunovich is an admitted
perennial addict who not only shuns the twelve step road to salvation but invites others to
come along with her on the hunt for this year's "must-have" plants. This presentation is an
entertaining look at how we decide what's worth having, how to go about finding those elusive
varieties, and what's on her list for this season. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Perennial Garden Design (Several different versions, each with unique aspects. See also
"Simple, Successful Garden Design" and "Designing Perennial Gardens.")
This class provides the opportunity to explore the concepts of designing, drafting, and planting
a perennial garden. Learn to visualize the new or changed bed, put your ideas on paper, find
plants and materials, and plan soil preparation. Ideal for those already acquainted with
perennial gardening, but not yet proficient in design and planning. (3 meetings, total 9 hours)
Perennial Gardening
You can have beautiful gardens this year and for years to come when you use perennial plants.
An experienced instructor and gardener leads this comprehensive five week course in how to
recognize and grow 30 excellent perennials. You'll learn how to design a garden that's pretty
from spring to fall, without relying on all those annuals. You'll be able to prepare your flower
beds so your flowers grow well, the weeds don't, and maintenance is minimal. You'll even
know the best places to go to get the plants for your design. (5 meetings, 15 hours)
Perennial Gardening Short Course
For those who want to start a perennial garden this year, but don't have very much time to
learn! This course covers the fundamentals of design, soil preparation, finding and selecting
plants, planting and maintenance. In-class design time and the amount of class time
devoted to discussing specific choices is less than in the full course. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
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Perennial Gardening: Chores and fun
Learn more about your perennial garden! Hot topics for June, for those with a perennial
garden: what maintenance chores should be on your list this month, and why; how to cut and
arrange flowers, what is edible, dry-able, and more. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Perennials for Growers: What your customers want
Writing for a major newspaper, hosting a weekly call-in radio gardening show, teaching classes
to home gardeners, and working in clients' gardens are what puts Janet Macunovich in a
unique position to gather information about what gardeners want when they go to shop for
perennials. This presentation is help for the professional grower for deciding which plants to
carry, which varieties, what size containers, and what "added value" items will keep the
customers coming back steadily. Updated annually to reflect new cultivars and consumer
trends. (I meeting, I hour)
Perennials in the Landscape
Here's a fast, fun, beautiful visual tour that will acquaint you with the wide range of uses
perennial plants can have in the landscape. Both new gardeners and experienced gardeners
will find this information interesting, as it includes both general and specific recommendations
gathered from gardens and gardeners from many geographic areas and situations. Traditional
perennial gardens, the “New American Garden,” containers, edging, groundcovers, and plants
that extend the blooming season are all covered, with specific plant recommendations for each
area. Your guide, garden designer and writer Janet Macunovich or horticultural photographer
Steven Nikkila, also introduces a starting line-up of sure-fire plants selected for their beauty,
endurance, and adaptability in the landscape. This information can be a big help to those who
want to make their surroundings more attractive, in unique ways. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Perennial Introductions: See "Seeking the Best"
Persuading Perennials... to Delight Us for All Four Seasons
Perennial gardens and the landscapes they occupy don't have to look like moonscapes during
the off-season! Perennials have a lot to offer even from October to April. To reap four seasons
of interest from your garden, it's wise to choose species and varieties carefully, but that's only
part of the answer. How you place and maintain plants and other garden features is more
important. Here are design techniques and maintenance tips from garden designer and author
Janet Macunovich. (1 hour and 3 hour versions)
Photography in the Garden (also called Effective Photogardening)
This talk is a triple attraction: a professional horticultural photographer's simple steps for
capturing your own garden on film. It's also an enchanting photo tour of beautiful gardens plus
a critical look at what works in a garden from a design perspective. Framing your shot, setting
up "before and after" shots, planning a dramatic sequence to show seasonal or year to year
differences, using light and shadow to your advantage, and correcting for less-than-perfect
light or subject matter are all discussed for both manual and automatic cameras.
Photographer-horticulturist Steven Nikkila also shares great ideas for displaying your work in
an album, on a wall, or in your garden! (1 meeting, various-length versions available; see also
as an optional follow-up, "Eye to Hand-y Image: Garden Photography Workshop)
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Photography for the Horticultural Professions
Many landscape managers, arborists, and horticulturists
need photographs of their landscapes and gardens for
resumes, publications, records of weather damage and
vandalism, training, and more. Here is help from a
professional horticultural photographer to make
pictures that show what must be shown, to the best
advantage. (1 meeting, various-length versions
available)
Photography Workshop (See "Eye to Hand-y Image:
Garden Photography Workshop")
Picture Perfect Garden... (See “Transplanting the
Picture Perfect Garden”)
Pinching and Shaping Perennials (See "In Over Your
Head")
Planting a Perennial Garden
A very practical how-to: selecting, buying, arranging and
planting a weekend garden project. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Planting in Summer (See "Never Too Late: Planting in
Summer")
Planting to Perfection: How to choose and plant to
get things growing
A basic plan to get you off and running by spring:
• How to select plants that will meet your expectations
• Ideas for placing plants and features in your yard,
• Planting directions
Includes suggestions for easy, pleasing permanent plants (trees, shrubs, vines), long-term
residents (groundcovers and perennials) and annuals.
Planting Trees and Shrubs
How to put it into the ground once for forever. (1 meeting, 1 hour or 3 hour hands-on outdoor
workshop)
Plant it Well, Enjoy it Forever: Complete how-to for planting every type of plant
How to plant just about anything so it grows well and, perhaps even more important, so it
continues to look good without being moved! Professional gardener and designer Janet
Macunovich shares 30 years of experience to help you decide what to plant where and how to
plant it right. Includes very important new information about planting trees and shrubs. (1
meeting, 1 hour)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 40
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Planting When the Roots are Wrong
We can buy almost any species and variety of tree or shrub today, an unprecedented wide
choice. Yet despite careful selection, when we unwrap or depot the plants we find most have
compromised root systems. Sometimes we reject a plant even at that point but more often we
implement fixes. We're gardening in an age when a perfect storm of production practices and
economic realities has created this situation. Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila explain the
problem, the attention it's getting at high levels and share the remedial methods they have
employed and results they have seen over 30 years. (1 meeting, 1 hour or 3 hour hands-on
outdoor workshop)
Plants in the News and New in Your Garden
This presentation looks at the "news" in a garden -- which plants are new and how to know if
they are worth adding to your garden, along with garden related stories and items in the news
that you should be aware of. Lots of novel ideas offered up and tailored for participants'
gardens, plus many fun perspectives on old standards. (1 meeting, 1 hour and 1 meeting 3-hour
workshop available)
PowerPoint and More: How to develop and illustrate a Master Gardener talk
Here's help from two professional public speakers for those who are new to public speaking,
unsure where to start, but determined to give a first-class presentation to the club, community
group or other audience that's requested a Master Gardener's expertise. This presentation
describes the process from beginning to end - deciding on the information you want to convey
to the audience, organizing the ideas for maximum effect, and choosing the most effective ways
to illustrate points via images or a combination of images and other media. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Practical Water Gardens
The sight and sound of water can enhance almost any garden - but don't dive in until you've
considered all the angles. This class is the straight scoop on designing, building and
maintaining a water garden. (1 meeting, 2-1/2 hours)
Preventing Construction Damage to Landscape and Garden
It's exciting to add a room, build a new garage, reconfigure a house, or change a driveway, walk
or patio. You probably weren't counting on losing your trees and permanently disfiguring your
landscape in the process, but that's often the result. Learn how to plan construction projects to
identify what can be saved in a landscape, protect it and help it recover when the crews and
equipment have gone. (overview 1 meeting, 1 hour; or 1 meeting 3 hours)
Primping the Perennial Garden
It's not just the combination of plant species and varieties that make for April through October
bloom in a perennial garden. What really counts in mid-summer are gardener's tricks for
tweaking the garden -- staking, deadheading, cutting back and other techniques that fine tune
the plants' overall appearance while extending, delaying or coaxing repeat bloom . This
presentation covers those practical techniques that add up to a really long show. (1 hour, 3
hour, and workshop-length versions; workshop version has lecture and hands-on sessions.)
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Professional Series
A Season in the Perennial Garden: April to November Care of Perennials - A
unique, step-by-step account of what's done to maintain a perennial bed, how, when and why.
Illustrated with pictures and examples from an actual season of work in a botanical garden
perennial bed. General maintenance procedures are covered, plus specific care of over 30
species.
Many gardeners know what kind of work it takes to keep a perennial bed looking its
best, but are you one of the few who can get it done on schedule? The real news in this session
is how to schedule and sequence the work. With this information, a season's chores can be
planned in advance, and labor and materials estimated. (1 meeting, 4.5 hours)
Professional Series (Cont'd.)
Design and Planting Perennials: What works, what's lasted, what pays off Make the best picks now in plants and planting arrangements by evaluating and selecting the
longest lasting, most cost effective elements from 20 years of designing, planting and tending
perennial landscapes. Garden designer and writer Janet Macunovich has taken this long look
back and projected it forward for her own design, planting and maintenance firm. In this
presentation she shares her findings and explains what she'll be including, recommending and
doing to keep perennial gardens in the fore during the coming years. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Difficult Sites: From challenging site to great garden
(An Expert Perspective presentation)
Given a great site, most anyone can create an attractive garden or landscape. What makes the
most lasting impression and brings in the most new work for a professional is being able to
make a great garden rise from a challenging site. This talk covers some of the most common
and frustrating site difficulties, with suggestions for plant selections, design innovations and
planting techniques to overcome them. This presentation employs Janet Macunovich & Steven
Nikkila's trademark Expert Perspective method to take you not only on a visual tour of some
actual challenging sites and solutions but on a virtual tour through the area around your
meeting place. You'll see through expert eyes what you shouldn't miss taking home to use in
meeting your next challenge. (1 meeting, 1.5 hours; for more on this method of presentation see
"Expert Perspective")
Estimating Planting Costs Here's an opportunity to take a detailed look at turning a
perennial garden plan into a detailed estimate and proposal. Includes figuring costs, building
in profit, anticipating roadblocks, capturing it all on paper and in a solid contract. (1 session, 1
hour or 1 session 3 hours)
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Maintaining Perennial Beds: Part 1 - A professional approach - Every year,
beautifully designed, well planted perennial beds are lost and revenue opportunities lost with
them, because maintenance was not done or improperly done. Designer-writer Janet
Macunovich designs, plants and maintains perennial beds through her business, Perennial
Favorites. In this class she presents a no-nonsense look at what must be done, when, and how
to keep perennials looking their best and selling themselves to our customers. (1 meeting, 1
hour)
Maintaining Perennial Beds: Part 2 - Beyond the basics - Just when we begin to
get comfortable in caring for perennial beds, a new species presents itself or we find ourselves
in a unique position not covered in our standard references. Here's help toward thinking on
your feet the next time the going gets rough. This portion of the class goes beyond the basics
into how to care for specific plants, what to do when recommended timing or sequencing of
chores can't be followed, and renovating older beds. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Professional Series (Concluded)
Maintaining Gardens: Staying ahead of perennial trouble - For those who
maintain perennial gardens, the best strategy for a dependable show in your plantings is to stay
informed and keep at least one step ahead of problems. Here's a line-up of some of the bestselling and most useful perennial species along with what to expect now and down the road in
terms of pests, diseases and other headaches. Janet Macunovich has maintained perennial
gardens through her firm, Perennial Favorites, for over 20 years. She also writes and speaks
about perennial care, both to share what she has learned for the general advance of the field,
and to gather the information she needs to keep her own client's gardens ahead of the pack.
She's contacted all of her sources, compiled all her notes, and packed all the most relevant tips
into this presentation. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Perennials in the Landscape: Current opportunities and forecast - This
presentation is designed to acquaint professionals in garden centers and garden-related
businesses with a wide array of uses for perennials in the landscape. Traditional perennial
gardens, the “New American Garden,” containers, edging, groundcovers, season-extenders are
all covered, with specific plant recommendations for each area. Garden designer and writer
Janet Macunovich also introduces the audience to a starting line-up of sure-sell perennials
selected for their marketability and adaptability in the landscape. This information can be a
big help to those who want to increase their stock of perennials or boost sales
(1 meeting, 2 hours)
Profitable Perennial Garden Maintenance Although strong horticultural practice
is essential in this business, what probably makes the difference between companies that come
and go and those that make a go of it is solid business practice. Janet Macunovich, a 20-year
professional gardener who specializes in perennial garden maintenance, offers advice on
tracking costs, estimating, scheduling and billing for perennial garden care. (1 session, 1 hour
or 1 session 3 hours)
Propagating Plants (See "Making More Plants" and "Dividing Perennials”)
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Pruning Evergreen Shrubs and Trees
Workshop
Many landscapes include evergreen shrubs
and trees which must be kept smaller than
the plants' potential. It can be a challenge to
keep them small, healthy and well shaped.
August is a great time to prune to control the
size and shape of these plants. Come learn
how in a hands-on session. (1 meeting, 3
hours)
Pruning Conifers (See "Clipping Conifers")
Pruning Overgrown Plants (See "In Over Your Head")
Pruning Trees and Shrubs (Also called “Fine-pruning the Landscape.”)
If you have ever wondered how and when to prune your trees and shrubs to ensure beautiful
bloom, good shape, manageable size, and healthy plants, this is the class for you. In it, garden
designer and writer Janet Macunovich covers:
• How well and how long popular landscape plants hold up to pruning
• Simple, proven techniques for keeping plants within the bounds you set.
Macunovich encourages you to "Bring a branch!" Clip a limb from the plants you want to trim,
to be sure they are included in the "how to!"
(1 meeting, 3 hours - includes sample plants and tools; OR 1 meeting, 2 hours without samples)
Pruning Trees and Shrubs: Off-season plants and practices
You can get ahead of the season, take advantage of what might otherwise be "down time" and
improve the landscape by pruning during winter dormancy. Here's what to prune, how and
when to ensure beautiful bloom, good shape, manageable size, and health in trees and shrubs.
In it, garden designer and writer Janet Macunovich covers the how-to for a comprehensive list
of popular landscape plants. These are simple, proven techniques you can apply during winter
thaws and weeks before conventional "Spring clean up" time.
(1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours; Or 1 meeting, 3 hours with hands-on samples)
Raise Your Sights to Lower Maintenance
What exactly is “low maintenance” and how can it be achieved in an average yard? Here's a
review of the kinds of chores that must be, can be, and might be done in a garden and
landscape to keep it looking its best. Even the busiest person or one with limited physical
ability can reduce work and improve the look of the yard with these tips for setting priorities,
making the most of good timing, and employing energy efficient techniques. (1 meeting, 2
hours)
Real-World Gardens
Learn by doing: Invite us to your site to teach your group, or come to a site we choose. (If you
aren't scheduling for a group: Individuals interested in Real-world gardening should watch
www.GardenAtoZ.com/About Us/Where we're appearing for Garden By Janet & Steven
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opportunities)
An Evolving Shady Garden - Learn about shade gardening in an actual, shady yard.
You will be visiting a delightful woodland garden. Learn and practice techniques that will be
immediately useful in your shady garden. Come dressed for working in the garden, and bring
your favorite shovel, spade or garden fork, plus a hand trowel. An additional summer visit to
the same garden is included in the class, to learn about the changing face of a perennial garden.
Location of the class is provided when you register. (1 meeting, 2 hours-1 meeting, 1 hour)
Fall Bed Preparation - Covers the same material as other Fall Bed Preparation
course, but in a real garden. Hands on learning. Bring a shovel and fork, if you have them.
Dress for the weather and work. (1 meeting, 3 hour)
Garden Design - Get acquainted or reacquainted with the elements of garden design,
discuss techniques and tips, and then step outdoors to see it all in action in real gardens. Be
prepared to critique and propose changes, and participate in an exercise to design a major new
bed in a world class garden. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Garden in a Rock Wall - This class is a chance to learn by doing. You'll turn a rock
wall into a blooming perennial rock garden. Class meets in a real yard, the best place to learn
about gardening. Come dressed for working with soil, plants and rocks: you will be preparing
soil mixes and planting rock garden plants into a retaining wall. Bring your favorite shovel,
spade or garden fork plus a hand trowel. You can't take this rock wall garden home with you
when it's done but you will take home the ability to do the same thing in your own yard. The
optional materials fee is for a handout that includes the garden plan used for building the
garden and important notes to help you remember what you've learned. (1 meeting, 4 hours)
Real-World Gardens (Cont'd.)
Rock Garden on the Flat - This hands-on gardening experience will take place in a
real yard, the best place to learn about soil, plants, rocks and how to put them all together
beautifully. Come dressed for gardening: you will build a rock garden during this class,
complete with plants. Bring your favorite shovel, spade or garden fork plus a hand trowel.
Although this rock garden has to remain where the class builds it but you'll be able to build
your own rock garden when the class is over. The optional materials fee is for a handout that
includes the garden plan used for building the garden and important notes to help you
remember what you've learned. (1 meeting, 4 hours)
Making a Garden in the Shade - Learn about shade gardening in an actual, shady
yard. The class will prepare a garden bed in the shade and plant it with perennial plants that
will thrive there. You will learn and practice techniques in this class that will be immediately
useful in your own shady garden. Come dressed for working in the garden, and bring your
favorite shovel, spade or garden fork plus a hand trowel. The optional materials fee is for a
handout that includes the garden plan used for building the garden and important notes to
help you remember what you've learned. (1 meeting, 4 hours)
Perennial Garden Maintenance - Nothing beats learning with your hands. This
class will teach you how to give your perennial garden all that it needs. In part one, discuss
general perennial garden routines, see slide photographs, participate in classroom
demonstrations, and focus on what the priorities are right now in a garden. During part two,
work outdoors in a perennial garden to practice on real plants. Come dressed for gardening in
part two, and bring your favorite shovel, spade or garden fork plus a hand trowel. (2 meetings,
total 4 hours)
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Renovating a Perennial Bed
Perennials don't last forever -- beds that are six or seven years old benefit greatly from a total
or partial remake. If your bed has become worn out, some plants have grown too large and
others have melted away, or you're just plain tired of looking at the same old stuff, don't miss
this class. It's a step-by-step approach to take apart what's there, give old plants and soil new
life, and change a design to rekindle faded glory. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Renovating Gardens and Landscapes
Most gardeners have been faced with a previously-planted garden or landscape that's gotten a
bit worn and "needs something". Whether you're the gardener, or the owner working with the
help of a contractor, you'll have better results with your renovation if you adopt this plan for
success. This presentation shows how to make changes within a garden or a yard to express
yourself while maintaining unity between new and old. What to keep, how to visualize changes,
designing around existing features, transplanting and soil improvement techniques, tips
toward phasing in the changes, and suggested plants are all covered. (5 meetings, 15 hours;
overviews available - 1 meeting, 1 or 2 hours)
Restrained Garden: Gardening in small spaces (See also Small Spaces and Trees and
Shrubs for Small Spaces)
When your gardening goals seem too vast or too demanding for the space you actually have,
there's no reason to give up on your dreams. What you need is this practical approach that
revolves around restraint in planting and craftiness in maintaining small beds for maximum
impact. With the ideas from this class, you can handle almost any space, no matter how
confining, awkward in proportions, or restrictive in growing conditions. (3 meetings, 9 hours)
See also "Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces" for more "small space" information.
Rock Gardens (See also “Real World: Rock Gardens.”)
Rock gardens have been popular for hundreds of years, for good reason! They're small enough
to tuck into a corner of the patio or the cracks in a retaining wall, but able to hold more
different types of plants per square foot than any other style of garden. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Saving Trees During Construction (See "Preventing Construction Damage...")
Saving Time and Money on Yardwork: Low maintenance yards and gardens (See
also Low Maintenance Landscape; see also Simplify to Keep on Growing)
Now is the time to plan what you will do, when and how, to reduce the work you do and money
you spend on your yard. Although there isn't any such thing as a no maintenance garden or nocost yard, there are low maintenance gardens and yards. This presentation is full of backsaving, budget-easing tips from a professional gardener and garden writer. Every one has
proved its worth in real gardens. You may be surprised at how much difference you can make,
looking at everything from design modifications to variations in tools, timing and even
perspective. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours)
Scent in the garden (See "Senses: All the Best Sense in a Garden" and "Nosing Around")
Secret to Beautiful Gardens: Not a Green Thumb but the Right Tools (See Tools)
Seeking the Best of New Perennial Introductions
Writing a weekly e-newsletter based on readers' questions, discussing plants with gardeners all
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over the continent, teaching classes to home gardeners, working in clients' gardens through her
business, Perennial Favorites and her keen eye for trends are what puts Janet Macunovich in a
great position to gather information about what works for the average gardener. Look with her
today at a crop of the best recent introductions. Along with her recommendations you'll also
hear why certain plants and flower types make the hit list, why others keep trying, and how to
choose from each year's menu of new cultivars. (1 meeting 1 hour)
Sense-ational workshop: All the best sense in a garden
Have you ever closed your eyes to enjoy your garden for what you hear, feel, smell and taste?
This is a fresh look at gardening and your chance to spend fun, productive time evaluating and
enlarging the sensual dimension of your garden or landscape with the help of designer and
writer Janet Macunovich. In this workshop you'll move beyond what you see to designing and
managing for all your senses. You'll end the workshop with specific suggestions to improve
your garden's feel, fragrance, sound and taste.
(1 meeting, 3-4 hours) See also these five related 1-hour sessions: Designing for all Five
Senses; Ear to the Ground: Sound in the garden; Nosing Around: Smelling your
way to a better garden; Touch: Feeling good all around the garden; Taste: Edible
landscapes
Shade Gardening, a Practical Approach
Plant selection is critical for success in the shade, but so too are design and maintenance
strategies, planting among tree roots, and soil preparation techniques that serve not only the
new plantings but established trees or shrubs on the site. Janet Macunovich lends 25 years'
professional gardening and training experience to you to explore all of those topics.
(1 meeting, 3-6 hours; overview available - 1 meeting, 1 hour)
Shade Gardens
This class is for the gardener blessed with shady places. Offering solutions to the questions:
How can I make a garden in the shade? What differences are there in designing the shady
garden and preparing the bed, compared to a sunny garden? What can I plant? How can I
make it grow? (1 meeting, 3 hours; overview available - 1 meeting, 1 hour)
Shamans, 21st Century (See "Gardeners: 21st Century Shamans")
Simple, Successful Garden Design ("Easy Garden Design")
Simple steps to designing a garden, applicable to the first time gardener or professional. You'll
learn: How to match the garden to those people's needs, determine a budget, select a site,
arrange the plants, and even how to be sure the finished garden gets the care it will need to
look great. This 12 step approach works for annual flower beds, perennial beds, bulbs, even
woody plants. (2 meetings, 4 hours; overview 1 meeting, 1 hour)
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Simplify to keep on growing (Keep on Growing: Save Time, Money and Defy Age.)
Thomas Jefferson said, "I am an old man but yet a young gardener." If you have been
gardening for many years, you feel this, too -- your situation and abilities change yet your
desire to keep growing does not. Here are insights for keeping up what your younger self began
by streamlining, saving energy, and altering methods, tools and perspectives. From a 30-year
professional gardener with lots of input from others with even more seniority. (1 meeting, 1
hour)
Simplify the Garden: A workshop for professional gardeners
Many gardeners look to the pros to help them simplify a garden or landscape when their
circumstances or interests change. They ask the caretaker or the consultant, "Can we reduce
the work without losing the beauty?" Here's a chance to consider tactics for simplifying and
also predict the impact of the changes for everyone associated with the garden. Included are
approaches that can make tasks simpler or physically easier, design modifications, variations
in tools and timing and more. (1 meeting, 1.5 - 2 hours)
Small Spaces: Gardens for Small Spaces (For related items, see also "Restrained Garden"
and "Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces")
Garden designer and writer Janet Macunovich has lots of ideas to share regarding the small lot,
tight corner, and intimate courtyard. This presentation is all about how to have a lot in a small
area and how to work out the design, planting and care of that space. You'll come away with
actual design plans for tight places, lots of colorful examples and hands-on practice at doing it
all yourself. (1 session, 3 hour workshop; overview available 45-60 minutes)
below: Janet's students work through a garden planning exercise.
Smart Gardener in the High Tech
Age (Available after October 15, 2016)
We gardeners revel in one of the
lowest-tech pursuits on the planet
while living in a world full of digital
fruit that's also worth picking. Smart
records, low-cost apps and simple
photo work can help you keep ahead of
things in your garden. Here are
practical suggestions for making the
most of the newest tools available to
you, including the phone in your
pocket and computer on your desk. (1
session, 1 hour)
Sound in the garden (See "Senses: All the Best Sense in a Garden" and "Ear to the Ground")
Specialty Gardener
This series is designed to meet the needs of your garden terrain. You will learn the importance
of proper ground preparation and receive specialized information that will help you attain that
special garden that you've always dreamed of having. Topics include gardening for meadows,
wetlands, rocks, shade, and wildlife. (5 meeting, 4 hours)
Spring Tonic (spring design and maintenance in perennial beds) See "Green Revival"
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Spring Start-up: Working the garden now for a year of non-stop color
Does your garden make you happy right now, In April? It should! And it should keep on
glowing right through fall. Learn how in this talk and demonstration by garden designer and
writer Janet Macunovich. Macunovich will show what to do in the garden right now to make
the whole season easier, the garden more lush and the color continuous. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Starter Gardens
For the first-time gardener, the aspiring gardener or the old hand who still wonders if s/he got
the right start. Basic garden planning (realistic expectations, best sites, site assessment, plant
selection), planting and a what-to-do-when look at maintenance through the year. Instructed
by Janet Macunovich, garden writer and Oakland County Master Gardener who's helped
hundreds of people start gardens and remade her own numerous times over 25 years. (1
meeting, 3 hours)
Stop Losing Plants (See "Don't Know a Plant 'til You've Killed it")
Successful Perennial Gardening
An overview of the most important aspects of perennial gardening, from what to expect of
perennials, to soil preparation, selecting plants, planting, day-to-day care and a starting line-up
of perennials for sun and shade. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Taste: Edible Landscapes (See "Edible Landscapes")
Thank You, Great Grand-folks
A look at the history of gardening in the U.S. Midwest. Engaging insights into why we grow
what we do, the way we do and how our ancestors' gardening ways are still affecting our lives.
(1 meeting, 1 hour)
Tool Care (also called "Clean and Sharpen Your Tools")
Wonder why some gardeners get things done so simply? Good tools that are sharp, tight, and
well oiled can be a big part of it! Learn how to tune-up pruners, reclaim a worn spade or
sharpen your weeding tool as well as what to look for in essential gardening tools. (1 meeting,
2-3 hours depends on number of participants. Materials fee applies in addition to speaker fee.)
Tool Care Party (also called "Cleaning and Sharpening Party")
Wonder why some gardeners get things done so simply? Sharp, tight, well oiled tools can be a
big part of it! Why not invite Janet Macunovich or Steven Nikkila to preside over a tool
cleaning workshop party? You provide the basement or garage space, tables, chairs and
interested people who bring their tools-in-need-of-care. Janet or Steven provide the how-to,
demonstrations and materials needed. All who come can go home with tuned-up pruners,
spade or weeding tool but, more importantly, everyone will take away the know-how to keep
their tools in top form. (1 meeting, 2-3 hours depends on number of participants. Materials fee
applies in addition to speaker fee.)
Your tool care party in Monroe, MI last Sunday made many of us very very thankful.
I tried my shears Monday and WOW what an enormous difference it made when taking
down my ornamental grasses. We knew tools needed to be sharpened but many of us
were not sure how to do our various tools or were using the wrong sharpening equipment.
It isn't rocket science but very important knowledge to learn. Thank you for giving me
another lifetime skill. - Sandra O'Connell -
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 49
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Tools (Also called "Secret to Beautiful Gardens: Not the Green Thumb but the Right Tools")
Even the best gardener can save time, energy, muscle strain and reduce plant stress by using
the right tool. Professional gardeners Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila open their own
toolbox for your inspection and share tips for selecting, using and caring for garden tools. (1
meeting, 1 hour)
See also Tool Care Party for a hands-on workshop of good tools and their care.
Touch: Feeling good all around the garden (See also "Senses: All the Best Sense in a
Garden")
Janet helps you get more out of your garden by focusing on the tactile sense. This is your
chance to spend some time going beyond the visual to discover why you and others might like
and dislike certain plants, why some are well suited to welcoming entranceways, others are
great for barriers, some are guaranteed conversation starters and others make an elegant finish
to a bouquet. (Be prepared: some delightful touching of samples is involved!) It's a grand way
to make the garden richer for those who love to or need to touch, and to get more enjoyable
mileage from your surroundings. (1 session, 1 hour; 2 hour workshop available)
Traditions in gardening (See Holiday Magic, Myths and Legends, Thank You Great Grandfolks, What the Groundhog Won't Tell)
Transplanting the Picture Perfect Garden
At some time in their lives, most gardeners visit a garden or see a picture of garden or
landscape that becomes a driving vision. Even though the dream garden itself encompasses
acreage and the dreaming gardener has only a postage-stamp lot, or vice-versa, he or she wants
to have it outside his or her own kitchen window. Landscape and garden designer Janet
Macunovich shares some practical ideas on how to recreate or adapt features from that picture
book garden or landscape to fit your own yard. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Traveling Gardener
Take a look at some of the beautiful public gardens in and around southeastern Michigan.
Learn what parts of each garden you should be sure to see on your visit. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
Tree I.D. (also called "Know Them to Grow Them: Tree I.D. as key to a great landscape")
Learn the basics of identifying trees in any season of the year. When you know the species you
hold the keys to giving it the perfect growing conditions, predicting and preventing its
problems, and using it to best advantage for ornament, shade or produce. Horticulturist Steven
Nikkila or Janet Macunovich will give you hands on training and take you out into the
landscape to apply what you've learned. (1 meeting, 3 hours; limited to 25 people or a team of
instructors will be required)
Tree I.D. Workshop (also called Choosing and Using Trees)
So many trees, so little time - so why plant any but the right tree for your site and use? Learn 15
to 30 great trees beginning with how to identify each one in any season of the year and
continuing through giving each one the perfect growing conditions, predicting and preventing
its problems, and using it to best advantage for ornament, shade or produce. Horticulturist
Steven Nikkila or Janet Macunovich will give you hands on training and also take you out into
the landscape to apply what you've learned and meet your great trees. (3 - 5 meetings, 7 - 11
hours; length varies with plant list chosen by the host group; limited to 25 people or a team of
instructors will be necessary for one of the sessions)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 50
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Tree Planting
A tree is a long-term investment. Spend a little while now to consider all the choices of tree you
have, and make the wisest selection. You'll also learn how to select a particular tree at a
nursery, how to plant and what care to give it to insure its quickest "Take" and fastest growth.
(1 meeting, 1 hour or 1 meeting, 2 hours)
Tree Planting in the Wake of Lost Ashes
Millions of ash trees have been lost from Great Lakes landscapes and forests, and millions
more will still be lost to the devastating Asian invader, emerald ash borer. One out of 4 people
will lose a major tree so it's likely you'll have to choose a replacement tree for your own or
another property. Here are wise choices for replacing that ash in a way that will be insurance
against future losses of this type. You'll also learn how to select a particular tree at a nursery,
how to plant and what care to give it to insure its quickest "Take" and fastest growth. (1
meeting, 2-1/2 hours or overview 1 meeting 3/4 hour)
Trees, preventing damage during construction (See "Preventing Construction
Damage...")
Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces
There can never be too many plants but there is frequently too little garden. This talk is for the
gardener with limited space who still wants a variety of trees and shrubs. Both deciduous and
evergreen trees and shrubs are covered. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Try it and See: Visualizing changes to a garden or landscape
Here's a chance to learn how to visualize changes to your garden or landscape, so that you can
plan and plant with confidence. Author and educator Janet Macunovich has 25 years'
experience helping others to see into their gardens' future. She brings that all to bear here to
give you several methods plus hands-on practice for picturing that perfect end product before
you commit money or manpower to materials and planting. Whether you're working on a
design from scratch, incorporating ideas you picked up at a conference or trying to figure how
to personalize a great plan you saw in a magazine or book, this workshop will help you get a
great start. (1 session, 4 hrs.) (overview, see "Gardener's Crystal Ball:...")
Vegetables: Growing Top-Notch Backyard Vegetables (See also "Edible Landscapes")
Help for both beginners and "old hands" in the basics of growing great veggies, and tips for
harvesting lots of safe, nutritious, low-cost produce from your own yard. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Versatile Viburnums
Many people design and grow for years without knowing they're overlooking a whole genus of
stellar shrubs. When they do finally discover the Viburnums, they are often overwhelmed by
the number of species and diversity of characteristics in the genus. Make the most of this
wonderful shrub group. Look through landscape designer/author Janet Macunovich's and
horticulturist/photographer Steven Nikkila's eyes to review a line-up of beautiful, durable
Viburnums for Midwest gardens, including enough species and varieties to supply almost any
garden or landscape need. (1 meeting, 1-2 hours)
Visualizing Changes (See presentation "Gardener's Crystal Ball" and workshop "Try It and
See")
Water Gardens (See "Practical Water Gardens")
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We Don't Know the Plant 'Til We've Killed It
A humorous look at some of the kooky things gardeners do and the even stranger ways that
plants respond to our attentions. (1 meeting, 45-60 minutes)
Weeds: To know them is to beat them
An in-depth look at some of the most common and worst weeds a gardener faces, how to get
them out and keep them out of a garden. (1 meeting, 2-3 hours)
What Goes Into a Garden Medicine Chest (See Garden Medicine Chest)
What Makes it English? (Also called “Designing English Gardens”)
A tour of beautiful English gardens that explains for designers how to capture the basic
characteristics of the English garden right in your back yard. (1 meeting, 1-1/2 hours)
What the Groundhog Won't Tell
If you're one of the believers who hold an annual vigil at a groundhog den on February 2,
nothing you'll hear in this presentation will seem strange. To everyone else, this revelation of
gardeners' odd beliefs and wacky off-season rituals will be an eye-opener. A fun way to spend a
winter hour, and bound to entertain you again whenever you observe an old tradition. (1
meeting, 1 hour)
What Your Garden Says About You (Also called "The Great Garden Give-away")
The plants, design and condition of a garden are windows on the soul of the gardener. What
does your garden say about you? What can you learn about your neighbors and friends from
their gardens? Covers standard messages, such as which door a visitor should approach as well
as more subtle hints to the owner's personality, lifestyle, even his or her philosophy. Laugh and
learn!. (1 meeting, 45-60 minutes)
When Cheating is A-OK: Quick and magical makeovers for big events in your
garden
Garden parties can be both last-minute and grand. Here are tips for making an existing highsummer garden look fresh and special right now.. (1 meeting, 1 hour)
Wildflowers (See "Michigan Wildflowers in the Garden", "Meadow Gardens, "Naturalized
Garden" or "Natural Landscapes")
Wildlife Gardening
Why and how you can plan and maintain the yard so that birds and small mammals will share
it with you. (1 meeting, 3 hours)
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 52
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Winter Care of
Tender Perennial
Plants and Roots
(See “Admitting You're
Hooked"”)
Winter Interest in the Garden: High returns for small investments (See also “An
Enchanting Winter Garden"”)
Gardens attract our eye - we perch with our morning coffee in front of the window that offers a
garden overlook, and the premium seat in the family room often faces the picture window to
the garden. No wonder winter depression occurs, when out of comfortable habit we turn to
look at gardens that in fall can suddenly become bleak, flat moonscapes! Garden designer
Janet Macunovich has tips for you for fall clean-up and much more. As you do your garden
clean up this fall and decide if and where to place new plants and bulbs, use these ideas to
make any existing or new landscape interesting, colorful, even alive with birds and the motion
of leaves from November to April. (1 meeting, 2 hours)
OR
Winter Interest Workshop
Gardens attract our eye - we perch with our morning coffee in front of the window that offers a
garden overlook, and the premium seat in the family room often faces the picture window to
the garden. No wonder winter depression occurs, when out of comfortable habit we turn to
look at gardens that in winter are suddenly bleak, flat moonscapes! Garden designer Janet
Macunovich has suggestions for how you can improve your garden's off-season appeal, tips you
can use as you do your fall clean-up this year and tuck in new bulbs and plants. During this
workshop she'll not only show you how but also give you some practice applying her tips to a
specific garden. You'll have great ideas to make any existing or new landscape interesting,
colorful, even alive with birds and the motion of leaves from November to April. (1 meeting, 3
hours or 2 meetings, 6 hours)
Winter Protection: Make it practical, beautiful and simple!
Why protect a hardy plant? How? Can the protection be a visual asset rather than an eyesore?
These are the questions Janet Macunovich and Steven Nikkila answer, with humor, practicality
and an eye to witner beauty. Includes a look at the Japanese art of fuyu-jitako (preparing for
winter), and essential steps for anyone with a Japanese maple in an open situation.
(1 session, 1 hour)
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Winterizing the Perennial Garden (See "Art of Fall Garden Clean-up")
Wish List: Favorite perennials new
and old
(Also called "Plants on Our Wish List) (See
also Favorite Plants)
Over 1,000 new plants are introduced in
North America every year: New varieties and
even some new species. Yet there are already
so many terrific plants, how can a gardener
choose? Here's a list as well as a guideline
for deciding, from garden writer/designer
Janet Macunovich. She shares her favorite
perennials from unimpeachable classics to
sparkling new faces.
(1 session, 1 hour)
Yard Waste? We Want It!
(Also known as "Recycling Yard Waste," "Eco-friendly Gardening" or "Tree-Cycle that
Landscape!")
Here's how to make use, on-site, of what many view as waste and send to the composting yard.
Included are practical, beautiful and money-making ways to re-use organic material such as
sod lifted in edging or creating beds, clippings from annual shrub pruning, tree limbs and
autumn leaves as decorative wattle fencing, plant props, unique arbors, benches, sculpture,
mulch and garden walls. Innovative, environmentally friendly methods!
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Year-round Landscapes (See also "Persuading Perennials)
Making a landscape that's interesting all year round is not simply a matter of what you plant
but how you arrange the plantings and incorporate non-plant features. In this presentation
you'll be introduced to a stellar line-up of trees, shrubs and perennials for all seasons with
suggestions for plant combinations and landscape arrangements that make the most of what
the plants have to offer. (1 session, 3 hours)
Zone 5 Gardens: Pluses and Minuses (See "Michigan Gardening: Why it's a great place to
grow")
Garden talks by Macunovich & Nikkila Page 55
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